The hepatitis B virus (HBV) therapy market is primarily defined by patients chronically infected with HBV who require lifelong treatment with a daily nucleoside analogue. Although the majority of HBV patients are well served with older, generically available agents such as Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Baraclude (entecavir, generics), new agents are needed that can reduce the long-term toxicities and adverse events that are generally associated with nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. The recent market launch of Gilead’s Vemlidy (tenofovir alafenamide) not only offers an additional treatment option for HBV patients, but it will be the primary growth driver in a market constrained by generic erosion. Furthermore, drug developers are recognizing the commercial opportunity in the HBV market and thus are focusing on developing agents with novel mechanisms of action in an effort to advance the standard of care in this space.
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Key companies: Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Roche, Gilead, Novartis, Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Novira Therapeutics, Myr GmbH.
Key drugs: Entecavir (Baraclude, generics), lamivudine (Epivir-HBV, Zeffix, generics), pegylated interferon-α-2a (Pegasys), tenofovir alafenamide (Vemlidy), tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (Viread), SB-9200, GS-9620, INO-1800, IONIS-HBVRx, ALN-HBV, Myrcludex B, NVR-3778.