GSK's Hibsago wins first global approval in Japan as functional cure for chronic hep B

24 August 2026

UK pharma major GSK (LSE: GSK) said Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has approved Hibsago (bepirovirsen), an antisense oligonucleotide, as a functional cure for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in adults who have received at least six months of prior nucleos(t)ide analogue therapy and meet specified viral marker thresholds.

The approval, announced Monday, is the first global regulatory clearance for bepirovirsen and the first functional cure treatment for CHB approved in Japan.

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