Chromis Therapeutics, a San Diego startup centered around antiviral discovery, just raised $3 million in seed financing for its work in treating Hepatitis B. Now that Gilead and others have shown that Hepatitis C treatments can be curative, the market has expanded for Hepatitis B.
“With estimated 400 million people suffering from chronic HBV infection, which is a leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality worldwide, chronic Hepatitis B is a serious global problem,” Jennifer Giottonini-Cayer, a board director at Chromis, said in a statement.
Indeed, current antiviral approaches to Hepatitis B suppress the infection but don’t cure it.
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Chromis’ antiviral mechanisms include cccDNA inhibitors, entry inhibitors and capsid assembly inhibitors. Its primary target is “covalently closed circular DNA” – or cccDNA – whose formation and recycling help establish and maintain persistent infection, the company says – limiting the efficacy of current antiviral therapies.
As such, it’s developing small molecules that can reduce or eliminate the cccDNA from the nuclei of infected liver cells, and block reinfection mechanisms.
This initial funding comes from Torrey Pines Investment, and will help Chromis advance its Hepatitis B treatment to the clinic.
Notably, Gilead’s antiviral Sovaldi works by inhibiting an RNA polymerase that promotes viral replication.
