A drug that is already in clinical trials against hepatitis C virus can also prevent hepatitis E virus from replicating.
Around 70,000 people die each year from infections with the hepatitis E virus. There is currently neither a vaccine nor a specific drug against this virus. This could change with the identification of bemnifosbuvir as a compound effective against hepatitis E viruses (HEV). An international research team from Bochum, Germany, Heidelberg, Germany, and Beijing, China, has filtered this so called nucleotide/nucleoside analogue out of a library of such active substances. Since the drug is also effective against the hepatitis C virus and is already in clinical trials for this indication, the researchers hope that it could also become available as a treatment option against the hepatitis E…