The project Personalized treatment and care for chronic hepatitis B aims to improve treatment and care for patients with chronic hepatitis B. The project accommodates World Health Organization (WHO)’s plan to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.
Worldwide, an estimated 296 million people are chronically infected with hepatitis B virus, most of whom are unaware of their infection. The infection globally causes 1,1 million deaths annually. Norway has sanctioned WHO’s plan to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030. To achieve this goal a multi-dimensional approach must be applied:
• Diagnosis and referral to care: In Norway, chronic hepatitis B mainly affects immigrants, and a large proportion of these individuals are unaware of their infection. Caritas Norge, a non-profit welfare organization and key stakeholder in the immigrant community will develop and disseminate culturally adapted health information to immigrant populations to promote referral to health care.
Status: completed. More than 5000 persons have received information about hepatitis B and more than 500 persons did a self-test for the disease. Of these a handful persons tested positive and were offered immediate follow-up at Oslo University Hospital. See information on Caritas web page Contributes to testing and awareness of hepatitis B - Caritas
• Better diagnostic tools: The medical technology company Zimmer & Peacock will aim to develop a point-of-care test for detection and quantification of the hepatitis B virus. Making hepatitis B viral load measurement more accessible, especially in resource-limited setting, can be a game-changer in hepatitis B care.
Status: work package expected to be completed by 2025 with the device having reach Technology Readiness Level 4/5. Actions to secure funding for further development were taken in 2024 and 2025. The project was awarded NOK 250k in the pre-qualification for the RCN Health Pilot call and has submitted the main application for a NOK 25mill grant Health Pilot. In addition, commercial co-investors and go-to-market partners are actively being pursued.
• Personalized treatment: The current standard of care in chronic hepatitis B management is largely a one-size-fits-all model. This project aims to decipher the immunological mechanisms responsible for the highly variable disease progression in hepatitis B infection and identify prognostic biomarkers that will allow a more personalized approach to treatment and care. The research will primarily take place at Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, and Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm. The results may pave the road for new and curative treatment principles for chronic hepatitis B, which will be a major leap in the global elimination efforts.
Status: Ongoing. Four research fellows are recruited and have started investigating immunological mechanisms for the hepatitis B disease progression. Preliminary results have been presented at international conferences. First scientific peer-review publications submitted autumn 2025. First PhD emanating from project expected to be submitted 2026.
Norway has sanctioned the World Health Organization’s plan to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030, but this cannot be achieved with a one-dimensional approach. Therefore, we have partnered with stakeholders outside academia to address some of the main barriers to elimination of chronic hepatitis B (CHB):
1) Diagnosis and referral to care: In Norway, CHB mainly affects immigrants, and a large proportion of individuals with CHB are unaware of their infection. In the present proposal, we have partnered with Caritas, a key stakeholder in the immigrant community. We aim to develop and disseminate culturally adapted health information to immigrant populations and promote referral to care in selected cities in Norway.
2) Better diagnostic tools: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) viral load measurement is currently performed at highly specialized laboratories and is a major bottleneck in CHB programs. In collaboration with a Norwegian medical technology company (Zimmer & Peacock) we will explore a new principle of HBV viral load measurement. If successful, this can be a game-changer in CHB care globally.
3) Personalized treatment: The current state-of-the-art in the management of CHB is largely a one-size-fits-all model. With this proposal, we aim to use stored blood samples from a multicentre clinical trial (The Nuc-Stop Study) to decipher the immunological mechanisms responsible for the highly variable response to HBV infection. We will identify prognostic biomarkers that will allow a more personalized approach to CHB treatment and care. Through collaboration with a world-leading immunological laboratory, we have access to cutting-edge equipment, which will maximize the impact of our project and ensure skill transfer to our own institution. Results of this study may pave the road for new and curative treatment principles for chronic hepatitis B, which will be a major leap in the global elimination efforts.
