The HUREL Viral™ platform aids the study of viral persistence and accelerates the development of antiviral drugs.  Until 2018, researchers have lacked primary cell-based tools that function long enough and robustly enough to usefully model chronic HBV infection.  In a breakthrough infection, HUREL Viral™ can be stably, persistently infected with HBV for over 40 days, without introducing antiviral signaling inhibitors. HUREL Viral™ works with viruses drawn from chronically infected patients, as well as with lab-grown HBV, and—a key factor for high-throughput screening—scales down to volumes as small as a few hundred microliters.