Arbutus Announces Presentation of Phase 1a/1b Clinical Trial Results for AB-729 in Chronic Hepatitis B Subjects at The Liver Meeting Digital Experience™, The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Meeting

Across all single-dose cohorts, mean HBsAg concentrations continuously declined up to week 12 before reaching a plateau, suggesting dosing of AB-729 less frequently than every 4 weeks may be warranted
        In the 60 mg every 4 weeks multi-dose cohort, HBsAg concentrations continued to decline steadily beyond week 12 with no plateau in response observed to date          Both HBV RNA and HBcrAg concentrations declined after single- and multi-dose administration of AB-729          AB-729 was generally safe and well toleratedConference Call and Webcast Scheduled for Monday, November 16, 2020 at 8:00 am ETWARMINSTER, Pa., Nov. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (Nasdaq: ABUS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company primarily focused on developing a cure for people with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection as well as therapies to treat coronaviruses (including COVID-19), today announced the presentation of updated clinical data from an ongoing Phase 1a/1b clinical trial (AB-729-001) with AB-729, its proprietary GalNAc delivered RNAi compound. The presentation, entitled Safety and pharmacodynamics of the GalNAc-siRNA AB-729 in subjects with chronic hepatitis B infection, was presented by Professor Man-Fung Yuen, D.Sc., M.D., Ph.D., Chief of Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, during a virtual oral session: Hepatitis B: Therapeutics (New) at The Liver Meeting Digital Experience^TM, The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Meeting.              Summary of presented dataSingle-doses of AB-729 studied to date, 60 mg, 90 mg and 180 mg, resulted in comparable mean HBsAg declines at week 12, followed by a sustained plateau phase. During the multiple-dose portion of the trial, 60 mg of AB-729 dosed every 4 weeks resulted in continuous declines in HBsAg, reaching a mean of –1.44 log10 IU/ML at week 16. Data beyond week 16 demonstrate further declines in HBsAg with no plateau seen to date. AB-729 also resulted in meaningful decreases in both HBV RNA and HBcrAg. AB-729 was generally safe and well tolerated. The presentation can be accessed through the Investors section under Events & Presentations of Arbutus’ website at www.arbutusbio.com.
Repeat dosing of AB-729 60 mg every 4 weeks results in continuous HBsAg declines beyond week 12