NOVEL MOLECULAR APPROACHES TOWARD THERAPY OF CHRONIC HEPATITIS-B

More than 300 million people worldwide are chronically infected with h epatitis B virus (HBV), and are at greatly increased risk of developin g liver cirrhosis and eventually primary liver carcinoma. While infect ion can, with relative success, be prevented by vaccination, no genera lly effective therapy for chronic hepatitis B is available. Hence ther e is an urgent need for novel antiviral strategies. Recent advances in our understanding of the mechanisms underlying virus replication and assembly provide opportunities for the rational design of molecules th at could specifically interfere with these processes; some of these po ssibilities are discussed in this review.