Ventrus Biosciences has entered into a merger agreement with Assembly Pharmaceuticals, a privately held biopharma company with novel, first-in-class small molecules to treat, and potentially cure, hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Financial terms of the all-stock transaction were not disclosed.   The combined company will be renamed Assembly Biosciences, Inc. and will focus on the development of Assembly’s HBV candidates. Chronic HBV infection causes cirrhosis and liver failure, and it is...