Seattle biotech aims to cure hep B with breakthrough gene therapy
Tune Therapeutics, a Seattle-based biotech company, is developing a groundbreaking approach to cure hepatitis B (HBV) by deactivating viral genes without damaging human DNA.
The innovative treatment, named Tune-401, uses lipid nanoparticles to deliver a molecule directly to liver cells, where it’s converted into an epigenetic-silencing protein that adds methyl groups to the viral DNA. Unlike current treatments that only slow HBV’s progression, Tune Therapeutics epigenetic approach aims to prevent the virus from replicating altogether.
A cure for hepatitis B, a virus that chronically affects 2.4 million people in the U.S. alone, would be a transformative breakthrough and further solidify Seattle as a leading biotech hub.