📢 New Webinar : Hepatitis B functional cure: what does it mean and how close are we to reaching it?

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:loudspeaker: New Webinar : Hepatitis B functional cure: what does it mean and how close are we to reaching it?

:spiral_calendar: December 16th.
2025-12-16T10:00:00Z→2025-12-16T11:00:00Z

Join an insightful session where experts, including @thomastu, will break down what “functional cure” truly means, and discuss the latest scientific innovations and progress moving us closer to achieving it.

:point_right:Click here to register

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Can anyone join this? If so what should I mark down as *Organization ? hepbcommunity.org?

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Hi Althaea,
As the “Organization” field is required for webinar registration, you may enter “hepbcommunity. org” if convenient. Webinar - on Dec 16th, 10:00 GMT
Best regards
Marion

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@marion.heriveau will this be recorded? Unfortunately, the live session is in the middle of the night in my time zone, but I am interested in the content!

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@jessicah might know if the webinar will be recorded. Thank you for your feedback.
Marion

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Thanks for the question! The webinar will be recorded and if you register for the webinar the recording will be emailed to you after the webinar. It will also be available on the World Hepatitis Alliance YouTube channel.

Thanks

Jess

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Hi everyone,

We’re delighted to share the recording of this recent webinar :tada:

A big thank you and congratulations to all participants, speaker, and sponsors who contributed to making this webinar a success.

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Watch the webinar recording:

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Have a look to the Community briefing document from the World Hepatitis Alliance: WHA-Hepatitis-B-functional-cure-briefing.pdf

We will also be sharing a summary of the questions raised by participants, along with responses from Assoc. Prof. Thomas Tu who presented this webinar.

We hope you enjoy watching the recording and find the resources useful.

Best regards,

Marion

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:point_right: :man_raising_hand: :woman_raising_hand: :exclamation_question_mark: :eyes:
Below, you will find some questions raised by participants during the webinar, along with responses provided by Assoc. Prof. Thomas Tu. :scientist:

:red_question_mark:What are your thoughts on what needs to happen to prepare the workforce and affected community for a potential cure?

:point_right: :scientist: If a cure were developed today, we would indeed be ill-prepared to make sure it gets to the people who need it. We need massive scale up of diagnosis (so people know they have something that they need to cure in the first place) and engagement in care (so that the cure can be administered). For that to happen, we need increased awareness of hepatitis B and political action - so that communities know that there is a problem and to mobilise the resources we need (funds, material, people, skills). All the while, we need to be building up more trust in our systems, so that people feel safe with the clinical sector - which can be done efficiently by drawing on community and peer workers. All of this preparation can be done now, before we have that cure available!

:red_question_mark:What triggers these immune responses and what can we do to avoid this?

:point_right: :scientist:I want to premise this by saying that the immune response can be (and is often) beneficial - our immune system is built to eject out unwanted guests such as viruses. And it works well a lot of the time, which is why we do want to trigger them in some cases. However, when this becomes constantly activated over time and ineffective at driving everything out, it becomes a problem.

That said, we don’t actually know precisely what triggers the initial immune responses (lots of good informed guesses, but nothing is completely known). We need more research into these mechanisms so that we can activate the immune system in the right way to help eliminate the virus and cure the infection.

:red_question_mark:1. How do I get advice on the therapy which is the best match for my specific situation, AND closest to being clinically available? Are there consultants that I can provide my particulars to, who can guide me?

:point_right: :scientist:This is best discussed with your physician - they will be best placed to be able to either directly recruit you or refer you to the appropriate centre where trials are being held.

:red_question_mark:2. For a particular therapy, how do I get ahead of the curve in a very large “market”?

:point_right: :scientist:I’m not quite sure what you’re looking for with this query. Many times for clinical trials, many factors need to be met and cohorts need to be designed so that they are as even as possible. In that respect, it can be just random luck that you are included in a clinical trial and have access to an experimental therapy. Another point to consider is that the majority of clinical trials recruit participants who are already on long term antiviral therapy - this will often mean that there is much less virus in the liver and more chance of clearing the little that is left. As such you may want to consider whether treatment is right for you.emphasised text

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