Vir Biotechnology shares rose in premarket trading Monday after the company said its experimental combination of elebsiran and tobevibart met the main goal of a late-stage trial in chronic hepatitis delta. The stock closed Friday at $12.21.
In the 124-patient ECLIPSE 1 trial, 44% of treated patients reached the primary endpoint of undetectable virus together with normal levels of the liver enzyme ALT at Week 48, compared with 0% of the delayed-treatment group at Week 12. On the key secondary endpoint, 79% of treated patients had undetectable virus at Week 48, versus 0% in the delayed group.
Patients were randomized 2:1, with 83 assigned to treatment and 41 to the delayed group, which began therapy at Week 12. Vir reported one Grade 3 treatment-related adverse event, a decrease in neutrophil count that resolved in 15 days, and no treatment interruptions or discontinuations.
The topline results were presented at The Liver Meeting 2026 in Denver. The treatment remains investigational and has not been approved.
Vir said it plans a global regulatory package, with a U.S. Food and Drug Administration submission in mid-2027. Data from the ECLIPSE 2 and ECLIPSE 3 trials are expected in the first quarter of 2027.
Investors will watch those results, including the head-to-head comparison with bulevirtide in ECLIPSE 3, and the company’s regulatory filing.
