Assembly Bio's hepatitis B program flops as a potential cure in PhII, sending shares spiraling

Looking for a hepatitis B cure, Assembly Biosciences $ASMB has struck out in a Phase II.

The South San Francisco-based company announced Thursday afternoon that its lead experimental drug vebicorvir, in combination with nucleoside therapy, could not keep patients disease-free after stopping treatments. In total, 39 of the 41 individuals in the open-label study relapsed, as the regimen failed to achieve a meaningful sustained virologic response.