The University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Medicine said on Thursday that one of its 41 drugs under clinical trials for Hepatitis B may provide a cure for patients.

The new gene therapy consists of removing the Hepatitis B infected gene along the patient’s genetic code to reduce the surface antigens of the virus and halt the integration of the virus with the human genome.

“If we can suppress the virus and also eradicate the virus, the patients will not suffer or have a minimal risk or lower risk of suffering from liver cancer development and cirrhosis or liver failure,” said Professor Yuen Man-fung, who heads the research team.

“And that obviously will bring hope and a better life for patients,” he added.

Currently, treatments for the disease can only help patients manage symptoms.

Patients are still at risk of developing liver cancer or other complications, despite being required to rely on lifelong medication to treat the disease.

The team said it has started testing the method on patients from March this year, and is hoping to enroll around 40 patients by the end of 2026.

It said all of its nine patients undergoing treatment have had their surface antigen levels reduced, but more research has to be done before more data can be finalised and revealed.

In Hong Kong, about six percent of the population live with the chronic disease.