JNJ-73763989 (JNJ-3989) is a liver-targeted antiviral therapeutic for subcutaneous injection designed to treat chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection via a ribonucleic acid interference (RNAi) mechanism. Combination treatment with JNJ-73763989 and NA has the potential to specifically decrease HBV viral antigen levels and inhibit viral replication. Since HBsAg is immune suppressive, the direct reduction of HBsAg levels by JNJ-73763989 is anticipated to contribute to the restoration of the immune response that is impaired in chronic HBV infection. Pegylated interferon (PegIFN) is an approved drug for the treatment of chronic HBV infection and after a finite treatment duration of 48 weeks results in slightly increased HBsAg seroclearance rates. The primary hypothesis of this study is that at least one of the combination regimens of JNJ-73763989+NA+PegIFN-alpha-2a is more efficacious than NA treatment alone (standard of care), as measured by the primary efficacy endpoint. This study will be conducted in 3 periods: Screening Period (4 weeks), Treatment Period (24 weeks) and Follow-up (FU) Period (48 weeks), starting at Week 24. Safety assessments will include adverse events (AEs), serious AEs, clinical safety laboratory tests, electrocardiograms (ECGs), vital signs, ophthalmologic examinations and physical examinations. Total duration of individual participation will be up to 76 weeks (including screening period).
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy in terms of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) changes from baseline for the treatment regimens of 24 weeks of JNJ-73763989 + 24 weeks of nucleos(t)ide analog (NA) + 12 or 24 weeks of pegylated interferon alpha-2a (PegIFN-alpha-2a) (with immediate or delayed start of PegIFN-alpha-2a treatment).