As Australians with hepatitis C are being cured at unprecedented rates, those living with hepatitis B are looking forward to a new treatment which promises the same efficacy as current drugs but with less toxic side effects.

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) will, in March, consider for recommendation, a new medicine which promises the same efficacy as current drugs but with less toxic side effects. The current medicine, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), is effective in suppressing the hepatitis B virus but is also linked to bone density loss and renal dysfunction in some patients. This is due to the high level of tenofovir circulating in the body.

About 213,000 Australians live with hepatitis B and about 380 die each year from hepatitis B related causes. It is a leading cause of liver cancer, the cancer with highest rate of increase in Australia.

Not everyone with chronic hepatitis B needs treatment but experts have estimated that at any given time, 15 per cent will require treatment. If the condition is left unmanaged, one in four people with chronic hepatitis B will face adverse outcomes such as liver failure or liver cancer.