Hepatitis D virus (HDV): investigational therapeutic agents in clinical trials.

INTRODUCTION

Chronic Hepatitis D virus (HDV) infection is a global disease leading to rapidly progressive liver disease with increased liver-related mortality and hepatocellular carcinoma. Therapies are minimally effective; however, an increased understanding of the HDV lifecycle has provided new potential drug targets. Thus, there is a growing number of investigational therapeutics under exploration for HDV with the potential for successful viral eradication.

AREAS COVERED: This review discusses the clinical impact of HDV infection and offers an in-depth look at the HDV life cycle. The authors examine current and new drug targets and the investigational therapies in clinical trials. The search strategy was based on PubMed database and clinicaltrials.gov which highlight the most up-to-date aspects of investigational therapies for chronic HDV infection.