GSK reported new late-stage hepatitis B data that it said supports a functional cure with bepirovirsen. In two Phase 3 trials in noncirrhotic chronic hepatitis B patients, GSK reported functional cure after discontinuation of nucleos(t)ide analog therapy at Week 72 in 19–20% of bepirovirsen recipients, compared with none in placebo arms. The NEJM-published results were based on fixed-duration bepirovirsen treatment after stopping background therapy at Week 48, using functional cure criteria that require sustained HBV DNA suppression and HBsAg loss. GSK highlighted that adverse events were more common in the bepirovirsen groups, with higher rates of grade 3 or higher lab abnormalities including alanine aminotransferase increases. GSK’s Chief Scientific Officer Tony Wood framed the data as potentially redefining treatment for chronic HBV, particularly by shifting the goal from ongoing viral suppression to a finite “functional cure” endpoint. If confirmed by regulator review and in real-world uptake, the dataset could strengthen bepirovirsen’s positioning against the current standard of long-term nucleos(t)ide analog therapy.