The present invention relates generally to viral variants exhibiting
reduced sensitivity to particular agents and/or reduced interactivity
with immunological reagents. More particularly, the present invention is
directed to hepatitis B variants exhibiting complete or partial
resistance to nucleoside analogues and/or reduced interactivity with
antibodies to viral surface components. The present invention further
contemplates assays for detecting such viral variants which assays are
useful in monitoring anti-viral therapeutic regimes.