The high prevalence is why the company likely picked this HLA subgroup when designing their therapy. I believe they target HBV antigen(s) in conjunction w HLA to target antigen presented on the cell surface (rather than soluble antigen) so you get more efficient cell killing. Less of a sink for the directed T cells and possibly also fewer SEs like CRS from lower amount of T cells needed to kill the target. The company is not targeting hep b s ag but some other antigens based on the PR. Could be a serious contender in this space IMO
The role of the HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DQB1 genes in the antibody response to hepatitis B (HB) vaccine has been well established; however, the involvement of the HLA-DPB1 allele in the HB vaccine immune response remained to be clarified by a systematic review.
Methods:
A meta-analysis was performed in which databases were searched for relevant studies published in English or Chinese up until June 1, 2020. Six studies were identified and a total of 10 alleles were processed into statistical processing in this meta-analysis.
...In conclusion, our meta-analysis revealed that HLA-DPB1*02:02, DPB1*03:01, DPB1*04:01, DPB1*04:02, and DPB1*14:01 are related to a strengthened HB vaccination response, and HLA-DPB1*05:01 serves as a low HB vaccination response marker. However, more large-scale studies are warranted to support our findings.