led global team hopes to answer hep B treatment questions
An international research collaboration called B-ZERO has received a Wellcome Trust grant to study why some hepatitis B patients in Africa fail to respond to standard tenofovir treatment. The study aims to investigate drug concentrations and viral strain differences to improve health outcomes in Ethiopia and South Africa.
Why it matters
Understanding treatment failure in hepatitis B is critical for reducing liver disease and cancer mortality rates in endemic regions.
A new international research collaboration – B-ZERO – has secured a Wellcome Trust Discovery Award to investigate why some hepatitis B patients fail to suppress the virus despite receiving treatment. The Stellenbosch University -led study also involves the Universities of Cape Town , Addis Ababa, Bristol, and Oslo, as well as the Francis Crick Institute , a leading biomedical research centre in London, and the Vestfold Hospital Trust , a Norwegian public health trust.
The team will study patient responses to tenofovir, exploring factors like drug concentrations, access to treatment and differences in African HBV strains, with the findings aiming to improve hepatitis B treatment outcomes, reduce liver disease and cancer risk, and strengthen efforts to eliminate viral hepatitis in African health systems.
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