What the trial was testing
The Piranga enrolled 281 patients with hepatitis b. The study was sponsored by Hoffmann-La Roche and tracked outcomes across the full group of patients who matched the trial's eligibility profile.
It was initial testing (phase 2). Trials at this stage are designed to produce evidence regulators and physicians can act on — not just observations to follow up later.
What the results showed
23% cleared the hepatitis B surface antigen on xalnesiran plus interferon.
New England Journal of Medicine · 2024 · NCT04225715
These findings — that cleared hepatitis B surface antigen 24 weeks after xalnesiran plus pegylated interferon — were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and represent the headline result of the study.
Researchers tracked outcomes across 281 patients enrolled in the trial. The result was consistent enough across the group that the team felt confident reporting it.
What this means for patients
For patients with hepatitis b, this result changes the calculus on what to ask their care team about. Whether it changes day-to-day care depends on factors like disease subtype, prior treatments, and where the patient is in their care journey.
What you can do now
Xalnesiran is still in development and not yet FDA-approved. Standard chronic hepatitis B suppression with daily entecavir or tenofovir remains the FDA-approved cornerstone of treatment. Ask a liver specialist about whether you qualify for ongoing clinical trials.
Eligibility for the treatments mentioned above depends on specific test results and clinical history. Bring this summary, the trial name, and your most recent labs or pathology report to your next visit.
Open hepatitis b trials
A Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Combination Therapy of BRII-179, BRII-835 and PEG-IFNα in Participants With Chronic Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Infection (ENHANCE)
This Phase 2, randomized, double-blind study will evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of the combination therapy of BRII-179, BRII-835, plus PEG-IFNα compared to PEG-IFNα in adult participants with chronic HBV infection without cirrhosis receiving neucloes(t)ide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) as background therapy.
Screening of Patients With Hepatic Fibrosis or Cirrhosis B and C
Regardless of its etiology (chronic hepatitis B or C, alcohol consumption, metabolic steatohepatitis, hemochromatosis, autoimmune liver disease), cirrhosis is a real public health issue. Cirrhosis is a chronic disease and can get complicated by liver cancer, digestive hemorrhage, or liver failure, which are responsible for morbidity and mortality. In France, cirrhosis prevalence is estimated at 700,000 patients and induce 16,000 deaths per year (10,000 liver cancer and 6,000 liver decompensation). In Ile-de-France area, cirrhosis prevalence is estimated at 130,000 cases, a lot of them are in Seine Saint Denis department due to precariousness. Hepatitis C virus can now be cured and hepatitis B treatment can suspend hepatitis B replication. All these treatments reduce liver complications but even after virological cure, cirrhosis requires dedicated long term management as well as alcoholic liver disease and metabolic steatohepatitis at cirrhosis stage. Periodic screening for complications and specific measures were defined by french HAS in 2007 (medication intake, dietary management and specific vaccinations), especially the performance of a semi-annual liver ultrasound for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) screening. Then, it seems essential to screen for patients with viral hepatitis and extensive fibrosis or cirrhosis in our department to achieve active and individualized management of this chronic liver disease, to reduce long term morbidity and mortality. The main aim of the study is to evaluate the prevalence of advanced liver fibrosis and viral infections B and C in the general population of Seine Saint Denis, using a dual screening method of TROD (rapid diagnostic orientation test) and FibroScan®, combined with a care pathway