Two grants from the National Institutes of Health will allow Saint Louis University researchers to build on breakthroughs in understanding the hepatitis B virus and begin the search for a drug to cure – not just halt – the illness.
John Tavis, Ph.D., professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at SLU published research demonstrating a way to measure and then block a previously unstudied enzyme, RNAseH, to stop the virus from replicating. Armed with that knowledge, Tavis now has the early data and funding to begin the search for a drug that may help to cure patients with hepatitis B.
Additional work funded from a second grant will involve screening for active enzyme from as many hepatitis B virus genotypes as possible. There are eight known genotypes of the hepatitis B virus, each further apart genetically than a person is from a mouse. Researchers will aim to find drug candidates that work for as many of the virus’s genotypes as possible.
Tavis will partner with Marvin Meyers, Ph.D., director of medicinal chemistry at SLU’s Center for World Health and Medicine (CWHM) and David Griggs, Ph.D., director of biology at the CWHM.
Once researchers have completed meticulous optimizing of both the enzyme and the assay, they will be ready for a small pilot test to screen drug candidates from known drug libraries.
Current hepatitis B drugs can treat but not cure the infection for most people. The majority of liver cancer cases worldwide are caused by the hepatitis B virus.