Patent ID: 8859198

Claim:
A method for determining the potential for a Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) variant to exhibit reduced sensitivity to anti-viral agents adefovir (ADV), lamivudine (LMV) and entecavir (ETV), said method comprising: isolating DNA or corresponding mRNA from said HBV; amplifying one or more labeled amplicons from said DNA or mRNA by using one or more biotin- or other ligand-labeled primers, wherein said one or more labeled primers hybridize to the DNA or mRNA which code for the isoleucine (I), aspartic acid (D), or valine (V) at a position corresponding to position 236 of SEQ ID NO: 28, valine (V) at a position corresponding to position 204 of SEQ ID NO: 28, methionine (M) at a position corresponding to position 180 of SEQ ID NO: 28, glycine (G) at a position corresponding to position 184 of SEQ ID NO: 28, and isoleucine (I) at a position corresponding to position 202 of SEQ ID NO: 28; capturing said labeled amplicons by hybridizing to an oligonucleotide immobilized to a solid support; detecting one or more a specific nucleic acid fragments by identifying the biotin- or other ligand-labeled amplicon; and identifying the presence of a combination of amino acids in a reverse transcriptase (rt) portion of an HBV DNA polymerase comprising an isoleucine (I), aspartic acid (D), or valine (V) at a position corresponding to position 236 of SEQ ID NO: 28, a valine (V) at a position corresponding to position 204 of SEQ ID NO: 28, a methionine (M) at a position corresponding to position 180 of SEQ ID NO: 28, a glycine (G) at a position corresponding to position 184 of SEQ ID NO: 28, and an isoleucine (I) at a position corresponding to position 202 of SEQ ID NO: 28; wherein the presence of the combination of amino acids is indicative of reduced sensitivity to said anti-viral agents.