Business
Arbutus Reports Fourth Quarter and Year End 2019 Financial Results, Confirms 2020 Corporate Objectives and Provides Pipeline Update
Conference Call and Webcast Scheduled Today at 8:45 AM ET WARMINSTER, Pa., March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (Nasdaq: ABUS), a
About this update from Arbutus Biopharma Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":"Conference Call and Webcast Scheduled Today at 8:45 AM ET\n WARMINSTER, Pa., March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (Nasdaq: ABUS), a Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) therapeutic solutions company, today reports its fourth quarter and year end 2019 financial results, confirms 2020 corporate objectives and provides pipeline update. “Arbutus is focused on developing a portfolio of medicines with different mechanisms of action that we believe could provide a functional cure for people with chronic hepatitis B,” said William Collier, Arbutus’ President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our key objectives for 2020 are to complete and report results from the Phase 1a/b clinical trial of AB-729, our proprietary subcutaneous RNAi agent, and rapidly advance our next-generation oral capsid inhibitor, AB-836, through IND-enabling studies by year end. Mr. Collier added, “We remain on track to announce preliminary safety and efficacy results from multiple single-dose cohorts in the Phase 1a/1b clinical trial for AB-729 later this month.” Pipeline Update AB-729 AB-729 is an RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutic targeted to hepatocytes using Arbutus’ novel covalently conjugated N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) delivery technology that enables subcutaneous delivery. AB-729 inhibits viral replication and reduces all HBV antigens, including hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), in preclinical models. Reducing HBsAg is thought to be a key prerequisite to enable reawakening of a patient’s immune system to respond to the virus. Arbutus is currently conducting a single- and multiple-dose Phase 1a/1b clinical trial for AB-729 to determine the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of AB-729 in healthy volunteers and in subjects with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection. Preliminary safety data in single-dose cohorts of healthy subjects and safety and efficacy data in single-dose cohorts of subjects with CHB infection are expected later this month. Additional single-dose data and preliminary multi-dose data are expected in the second half of 2020. AB-836 AB-836 is an oral HBV capsid inhibitor. HBV core protein assembles into a capsid structure, which is required for viral replication. The current standard-of-care therapy for HBV, primarily nucleoside analogues that work by inhibiting the viral polymerase, significantly redu...