Consortium to Find Hepatitis B cure

by | Mar 25, 2026 | Blog | 0 comments

Major Headline from March 10, 2026:

Johns Hopkins leads $24M multinational consortium to find hepatitis B cure
With NIH funding, the group will pursue research and patient care approaches for a disease that affects more than 250 million people around the globe

Big picture:
Johns Hopkins is leading a $24 million, 5-year global research consortium to find a cure for hepatitis B—a disease that still affects hundreds of millions worldwide.

Key points

  • Funding & leadership
    • $24M grant from NIH (NIAID)
    • Led by Johns Hopkins Medicine
  • The problem
    • Hepatitis B is currently incurable
    • ~300 million people infected globally
    • Causes cirrhosis and liver cancer
  • The consortium (BICC)
    • Multinational collaboration: U.S., Brazil, India, Senegal, Uganda
    • Combines research + clinical care (“bench to bedside”)
  • Research strategy
    • Build a large patient cohort:
      • 450 patients with HIV + HBV
      • 225 with HBV only
    • Collect blood, liver tissue, immune cells
    • Identify biomarkers and immune responses to guide cure development
  • Scientific approach
    • 7 coordinated components (virology, clinical, immunology, multiomics, etc.)
    • Focus on:
      • How HBV replicates
      • How the immune system controls it
      • What signals a “functional cure”
  • Why it matters
    • Vaccine exists, but access is uneven globally
    • Millions still get infected every year
    • A cure would be a major global health breakthrough.