ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT07654283ASPIRE-202Updated Oct 29, 2026

Study of AHB-137 in Chronic Hepatitis B (CHB) Participants in North America and Europe Regions

A Phase 2 interventional study of AHB-137 in Hepatitis B, Chronic, sponsored by AusperBio Therapeutics Inc.. Recruiting at 10 sites in 6 countries. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 65 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-29.

Sponsored by AusperBio Therapeutics Inc. · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Sep 2026; still recruiting 2 months later.
Updated Oct 29, 20262 sites added2 sites removedGo to Updates ↓
Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
70
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 65 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study is a randomized, open-label, multicenter phase 2 clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of AHB-137 injection in participants with CHB treated with Nucleos(t)ide Analogue (NAs).

02

Conditions studied

  • Hepatitis B, Chronic

Keywords

  • Hepatitis
  • Chronic Hepatitis
  • Chronic Hepatitis B
  • Hepatitis B
  • Hepatitis B, Chronic
  • Hepatitis B Virus
  • hepatitis B virus e-antigen
  • AHB-137
  • Nucleos(t)ide analogue
  • Nucleos(t)ide analog
  • Antisense Oligonucleotide
  • Blood-Borne Infections
  • Communicable Diseases
  • Infections
  • DNA Virus Infections
  • Virus Diseases
  • Hepatitis, Viral, Human
  • Liver Diseases
  • Digestive System Diseases
  • Chronic Disease
  • Disease Attributes
  • Pathologic Processes
  • Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms
03

In context

Hepatitis B, Chronic

895 studies on the registry are indexed under Hepatitis B, Chronic; 151 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 70 is below the median of 100 across 659 interventional studies indexed under Hepatitis B, Chronic.

Browse Hepatitis B, Chronic studies →

Lead sponsor

AusperBio Therapeutics Inc. is the lead sponsor of 4 studies on the registry; 3 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 65 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

Participants are eligible to be included in the study only if all of the following criteria apply:

  1. Adults ≥18 years of age and up to 65 years of age (inclusive) at Screening who are able to provide , comply with study procedures, and agree to discontinue nucleos(t)ide analog (NA) therapy if protocol-defined discontinuation criteria are met.
  2. (BMI) ≤35 kg/m².
  3. Documented chronic virus (HBV) infection for ≥6 months prior to randomization, defined by hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positivity or detectable HBV DNA.
  4. Receiving stable, approved nucleos(t)ide analog (NA) monotherapy for ≥6 months prior to randomization.
  5. HBV DNA meeting protocol-specified virologic criteria at Screening.
  6. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) level meeting protocol-specified virologic criteria at Screening.
  7. (ALT) meeting protocol-specified criteria at Screening.
  8. Screening (ECG) without abnormalities and with a Fridericia- interval (QTcF) ≤450 msec for males or ≤470 msec for females.
  9. Females of must not be breastfeeding and must have a negative serum pregnancy test at Screening and a negative urine pregnancy test prior to first dose.
  10. Males and female participants of childbearing potential must agree to use protocol-specified effective during the dosing period and for ≥6 months after the last dose of AHB-137.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

Participants will be excluded from the study if any of the following criteria apply:

  1. disease other than chronic virus (HBV) infection.
  2. Concomitant clinically significant liver disease.
  3. Any severe infection (other than chronic HBV infection) within 1 month prior to randomization.
  4. History of immune thrombocytopenia.
  5. Current suspected liver cirrhosis and/or evidence of cirrhosis by protocol-specified criteria for FibroScan® or equivalent imaging modality (e.g., ultrasound elastography); historical FibroScan® (or equivalent) results with documentation within 6 months from screening is acceptable.
  6. History of liver cirrhosis defined by liver or by FibroScan® or equivalent imaging modality using protocol-specified criteria.
  7. Prior history of, current diagnosis of, or suspected hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), or alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) ≥20 ng/mL at Screening.
  8. History of extrahepatic diseases potentially associated with HBV infection.
  9. Laboratory evidence of active infection with (HIV), virus (HCV), hepatitis D virus (HDV), or active syphilis. Participants with positive HCV or HDV serology and documented negative HCV RNA or HDV RNA, respectively, are eligible.
  10. Protocol-specified abnormal laboratory values at Screening.
  11. History of vasculitis or presence of signs or symptoms suggestive of vasculitis, or history or presence of diseases associated with vasculitis.
  12. History of within 5 years prior to Screening, except for adequately treated non-melanoma skin cancer. Participants currently undergoing evaluation for potential malignancy are excluded.
  13. History of or allergy to any component of the product (IP).
  14. Major trauma or major surgery within 3 months prior to Screening, or planned surgery during the study period unless eligibility is confirmed by the Medical Monitor.
  15. Current alcohol or substance abuse judged by the Investigator to potentially interfere with participant compliance.
  16. Female participants who are pregnant, breastfeeding, planning pregnancy during the study, or unwilling to refrain from egg donation and/or in vitro fertilization during the study.
  17. Participation in another clinical trial or receipt of any investigational product prior to first dose in this study within:

    1. Five half-lives (if known) or twice the duration of biological effect (if known), whichever is longer, or
    2. Six months, if neither half-life nor duration of effect is known
  18. Prior treatment with antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) or small interfering RNA (siRNA)-based therapies.
  19. Any of the following prior or concomitant therapies:

    1. Prolonged use of immunomodulators (e.g., , methotrexate), cytotoxic drugs, or biologics (e.g., monoclonal antibodies) within 6 months prior to first IP administration, except for short-term treatment (≤2 weeks) or topical/inhaled corticosteroids
    2. Interferon therapy within 12 months prior to first dose
    3. Vaccination within 1 month prior to Screening, except for influenza or SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) vaccination or booster
    4. Current treatment with bulevirtide
  20. Requirement for long-term regular use of anticoagulants (e.g., warfarin, factor Xa inhibitors) or antiplatelet agents (e.g., clopidogrel or regular aspirin), except for low-dose aspirin.
  21. Any other condition or circumstance that, in the Investigator's judgment, would make the participant unsuitable for participation in the study.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(16)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

BMI (body mass index)

Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.

What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.

Hepatitis B tests

Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. These are separate tests: HBsAg positive usually means a current infection (a recent vaccination can briefly cause it too); total anti-HBc (HBcAb) positive means an infection now or in the past; HBV DNA measures how much virus is in the blood.

Some studies accept a past infection if HBV DNA is undetectable, sometimes with antiviral medicine during the study. Check what this study allows.

ALT and AST (liver enzymes)

Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.

Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.

ECG (electrocardiogram)

A recording of the heart’s electrical activity, taken with stickers on the chest, arms and legs. It takes a few minutes and does not hurt.

Clinically significant

Judged by the study doctor to matter for your health or for the study. It is a doctor’s decision, so ask the study team if you are unsure whether something counts.

QT and QTc

On an ECG, the QT interval is the time the heart’s lower chambers take to activate electrically and recover in each beat. QTc is that time adjusted for heart rate (QTcF by Fridericia’s formula, QTcB by Bazett’s). Some medicines lengthen it, and a long QTc can raise the risk of a dangerous heart rhythm.

The study may name a correction formula and a limit in milliseconds, often around 450–480.

Childbearing potential

Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).

Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.

Contraception

Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.

Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.

Biopsy and archival tissue

A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.

Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.

HIV

The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.

Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.

Hepatitis C tests

Hepatitis C is a virus that infects the liver. An HCV antibody test can stay positive after an infection has cleared (and is occasionally positive without one); an HCV RNA test shows whether the virus is there now.

After treatment, hepatitis C counts as cured when HCV RNA is still undetectable 12 weeks or more after the treatment ended. Studies often accept people cured this way.

Cancer (malignancy)

Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.

Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.

Hypersensitivity

An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.

Investigational drug or device

A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.

It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.

Corticosteroids (steroids)

Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.

Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
70 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Arm A: Dose Regimen A

    Participants receive AHB-137 according to dosing regimen A.

    Drug: AHB-137

  • Experimental
    Arm B: Dose Regimen B

    Participants receive AHB-137 according to dosing regimen B.

    Drug: AHB-137

Interventions

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Proportion of participants with persistent HBsAg < limit of detection (LOD) and HBV DNA < lower limit of quantification (LLOQ)

    Time frame: 24 Weeks post AHB-137 treatment (Week 48)

Secondary outcomes

  1. Proportion of participants with HBsAg < LOD and HBV DNA < LLOQ

    Time frame: Off-treatment follow-up (Week 48 to 72)

  2. Proportion of participants with HBsAg < LOD

    Time frame: Week 72

  3. Proportion of participants with HBV DNA < LLOQ

    Time frame: From baseline through Week 72

  4. Proportion of participants with protocol-defined virologic response for HBsAg and HBV DNA post AHB-137 treatment

    Time frame: 24 weeks post AHB-137 treatment

  5. Proportion of participants with protocol-defined virologic response for HBsAg and HBV DNA at weeks 48 and 72

    Time frame: 24 weeks post AHB-137 treatment and at Week 72

  6. Proportion of participants with protocol-defined virologic response for HBsAg and HBV DNA

    Time frame: From baseline through end of study (Week 72)

  7. Proportion of participants with HBsAg < or ≥ LOD (0.05 IU/mL) and/or HBV DNA < or ≥ LLOQ

    Time frame: From baseline through end of study (Week 72)

  8. Proportion of participants with highly sensitive HBsAg < LOD (0.005 IU/mL)

    Time frame: From baseline through end of study (Week 72)

  9. Proportion of participants with protocol-defined levels of HBsAg

    Time frame: From baseline through end of study (Week 72)

  10. Proportion of participants that meet nucleos(t)ide analog (NA) discontinuation criteria

    Time frame: Week 48

  11. Categorical change from baseline in HBsAg levels, defined as reductions of ≥0.5, ≥1.0, ≥1.5, ≥2.0, or ≥3.0 log₁₀ IU/mL, assessed at each scheduled study visit

    Time frame: From baseline through end of study (Week 72)

  12. Proportion of participants with anti-HBs seroconversion (with hepatitis B surface antibody [HBsAb] > 10 IU/L)

    Time frame: Weeks 24, 48, and 72

  13. Quantitative hepatitis B virologic and serologic markers over time

    Actual values and change from baseline over time in available quantitative hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb), hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA, HBV ribonucleic acid (RNA), hepatitis B core-related antigen (HBcrAg), hepatitis B e antibody (HBeAb), and qualitative and/or quantitative hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg), summarized descriptively.

    Time frame: From baseline through end of study (Week 72)

  14. Proportion of participants who experience virologic relapse

    Time frame: From baseline through Week 72

  15. Time from nucleos(t)ide analog (NA) therapy discontinuation to virologic relapse

    Time frame: From NA therapy discontinuation (Week 48) through end of follow-up (Week 72)

  16. Change from baseline in alanine aminotransferase (ALT)

    Time frame: From baseline through end of study (Week 72)

  17. Proportion of participants with baseline ALT above the upper limit of normal (ULN) who achieve ALT normalization

    Time frame: From baseline through end of study (Week 72)

  18. Proportion of patients with drug-resistant mutations

    Time frame: From baseline through end of study (Week 72)

  19. Proportion of participants with treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs)

    Proportion of participants who experience treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs), serious adverse events (SAEs), and adverse events leading to discontinuation of study treatment.

    Time frame: From first dose (Day 1) through end of study (Week 72)

  20. Proportion of participants with detectable anti-drug antibody (ADA) to AHB-137 and corresponding ADA titers

    Time frame: From baseline through end of study (Week 72)

  21. Area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) of AHB-137

    Time frame: From first dose (Day 1) through end of pharmacokinetic sampling (Week 48)

  22. Concentration at the end of the dosing interval (Ct) of AHB-137

    Time frame: From first dose (Day 1) through end of pharmacokinetic sampling (Week 48)

  23. Maximum observed plasma concentration (Cmax) of AHB-137

    Time frame: From first dose (Day 1) through end of pharmacokinetic sampling (Week 48)

  24. Time to maximum observed plasma concentration (Tmax) of AHB-137

    Time frame: From first dose (Day 1) through end of pharmacokinetic sampling (Week 48)

  25. Apparent plasma clearance (CL/F) of AHB-137

    Time frame: From first dose (Day 1) through end of pharmacokinetic sampling (Week 48)

  26. Area Under the Plasma Concentration-Time Curve (AUC) of AHB-137

    Time frame: From first dose (Day 1) through end of study (Week 72)

  27. Plasma Concentration of AHB-137 at the End of the Dosing Interval (Cτ)

    Time frame: From first dose (Day 1) through end of study (Week 72)

  28. Maximum Observed Plasma Concentration (Cmax) of AHB-137

    Time frame: From first dose (Day 1) through end of study (Week 72)

  29. Time to Maximum Observed Plasma Concentration (Tmax) of AHB-137

    Time frame: From first dose (Day 1) through end of study (Week 72)

  30. Apparent Plasma Clearance (CL/F) of AHB-137

    Time frame: From first dose (Day 1) through end of study (Week 72)

07

Study locations

1 of 10 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

1 registry update since Sep 25, 2026
Sites
2 sites added, 2 sites removed
Show 2 added (2 United States)
  • Stanford University School of Medicine · Redwood City, United States
  • Institute of Human Virology · Baltimore, United States
Show 2 removed
  • Stanford University · Palo Alto, United States
  • University of Maryland · Baltimore, United States
Oct 29, 2026
Site contacts
Changed at 1 site. See the sites
Show the site
  • Texas Liver Institute · San Antonio, United StatesContact added a•••@txliver.com · •••3426
Oct 29, 2026
Show all 1 update
  1. Oct 29, 2026
    2 sites added, 2 sites removed
    Show 2 added (2 United States)
    • Stanford University School of Medicine · Redwood City, United States
    • Institute of Human Virology · Baltimore, United States
    Show 2 removed
    • Stanford University · Palo Alto, United States
    • University of Maryland · Baltimore, United States
    Site contacts Changed at 1 site. See the sites
    Show the site
    • Texas Liver Institute · San Antonio, United StatesContact added a•••@txliver.com · •••3426
    + 1 other change: verification date

From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07654283
Lead sponsor
AusperBio Therapeutics Inc.
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jun 17, 2026
Start date
Sep 1, 2026
Primary completion
May 11, 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Jul 26, 2028 (estimated)
Last update
Oct 29, 2026

Study contacts

Maggie Davis
Contact
ausperbioclinicaltrials@ausperbio.com
(650) 650-2877
Audrey Lau, MD, PhD
study director · AusperBio Therapeutics Inc.

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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Studies of the drug tested here: Hepatitis B Virus Antisense Oligonucleotide AHB-137

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