Singapore: Researchers from Cuba have developed a new vaccine for treatment of chronic hepatitis B. The vaccine HeberNasvac, developed in cooperation French company Abivax, is currently under clinical trials.

The team said that the product was found to be more effective and safer than other vaccines existing in the world against the illness, in initial studies. Studies of clinical evaluation have been approved by regulatory authorities in Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong , the Philippines and Thailand.

Every year nearly one million people die of Hepatitis infection, according to estimates. According to the World Health Organization, chronic liver disease caused by the hepatitis B virus is one of the main causes of liver cancer, liver cirrhosis, and other complications such as esophageal varicose veins.