HBV Cure

We are a cross-functional team consisting of Medicinal Chemists, Virologists, Immunologists, Computational Chemists and Biochemists focused on discovery of novel therapies to treat chronic hepatitis B, cancer and inflammatory disorders.

In a collaboration with our international partners, we are currently involved in the identification of novel agonists and antagonists of cGAS-STING pathway that plays a crucial role in the recognition of dsDNA in cytosol. Activation of the pathway by viral, microbial or tumor-derived DNA results in expression of type I IFNs and other inflammatory cytokines. This ultimately leads to induction of innate and adaptive immune responses enabling clearance of infection or inhibition of tumor growth. Simultaneously, an abnormal overactivation of the pathway has been implicated in autoimmune disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus and Aicardi-Goutières syndrome.