It is marketed by Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis under the trade names Sebivo (European Union) and Tyzeka (United States).

Clinical trials have shown it to be significantly more effective than lamivudine or adefovir, and less likely to cause resistance.

Telbivudine impairs hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA replication by leading to chain termination.

[7] Phase III clinical trials suggested that telbivudine put patients at greater risk for myopathy and peripheral neuropathy than the comparator drug lamivudine.

[10][11] Efficacy or safety concerns were not cited as rationale for discontinuation, but rather "availability of alternative medications"; presumably this refers to tenofovir disoproxil, which became available as a generic medication in 2017, and is a safe and effective treatment for chronic HBV infection.