Biotron Limited (ASX: BIT), a company focused on researching, developing, and commercialising drugs targeting significant viral diseases with unmet medical needs, has announced the completion of the first stage of its animal study for its lead Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) drug. The initial phase of the study, a safety assessment, aimed to determine the appropriate dosage for the subsequent stage, where mice will be challenged with HBV.
The safety study involved administering three different doses of the drug to mice every 10 hours for seven days. The company reported that all mice remained healthy throughout the study, with no evidence of organ toxicity observed during autopsy. These results confirm the drug’s safety profile in mice at the tested dosage levels. Biotron’s HBV drug will now be assessed for its ability to protect against and treat HBV infection in two different mouse models.
The next phase will evaluate the antiviral activity of Biotron’s HBV drug in two mouse HBV models. One model will assess the drug’s effect on early-stage HBV infection, while the other will examine its impact on later stages. Biotron noted that its HBV program is at an important stage of development, with funds raised in a recent rights issue dedicated to advancing lead HBV compounds into animal models of the disease. The company is also actively pursuing commercialisation opportunities.
Chronic HBV infection affects over 250 million people worldwide and can lead to severe complications such as cirrhosis and liver cancer. Biotron’s approach targets HBV with a novel set of compounds designed to stop the virus replicating and reduce levels of key viral markers. The study is being conducted at the SCRIPPS Research Institute in La Jolla, CA, USA.