Routes of
administration Parenteral Legal status Investigational | ATC code none | |
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Myrcludex B is an experimental drug for the treatment of hepatitis B and D. The first Phase IIa clinical trials with 40 patients concluded in 2014, finding that the drug was well tolerated and, as far as can be said with the limited data, effective against hepatitis B.
Mechanism of action
The hepatitis B virus uses its surface lipopeptide pre-S1 for docking to mature liver cells via their sodium/bile acid cotransporter (NTCP) and subsequently entering the cells. Myrcludex B is a synthetic N-acylated pre-S1 that can also dock to NTCP, blocking the virus's entry mechanism.
The drug is also effective against hepatitis D because the hepatitis D virus is only infective in the presence of a hepatitis B virus infection.
References
Myrcludex B Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA