Pipeline

Epiphany Biosciences is developing a portfolio of both therapeutic products and diagnostic technologies that treat or prevent the spread of pathogenic viruses. Epiphany has a robust pipeline of late-stage clinical, late preclinical product candidates, and novel discovery technology addressing several important viral diseases.

Shingles (VZV) and EPB-348

Shingles (zoster) and post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) are painful, debilitating diseases caused by the Herpes virus varicella zoster (VZV). Initial exposure takes place during infancy and VZV infection is identified as “chickenpox”. Despite the resolution of clinical symptoms, very few infected individuals clear the virus, and over 90% of the adult population is chronically infected with VZV. The virus remains dormant in neural tissue called “ganglia,” controlled by the immune system. However, given the right circumstances, VZV reactivation occurs and “shingles” develops. Currently there more than a million cases of zoster annually in the US, and the market for zoster drugs is anticipated to expand as the aging population increases.

Epiphany has licensed EPB-348 (MIV-606) from Medivir AB for the treatment of shingles. EPB-348 is a late-stage clinical candidate that has been shown to be efficacious and safe through Phase IIa human clinical trials.

EPB-348 is the only agent that has been specifically developed to target VZV. The majority of drugs used for the treatment of VZV (e.g. acyclovir, valacyclovir, famciclovir) have been developed for the treatment of HSV-1 and HSV-2. They have activity against VZV but only at high doses. On the contrary, EPB-348 is significantly more effective than acyclovir in vitro. Wide-ranging animal and human studies suggest that EPB-348 is safe and extremely well-tolerated.

Other Programs

In addition to EPB-348 for shingles, Epiphany is developing several new anti-infective therapeutic and diagnostic products.  Epiphany is also exploring a novel set of antiviral protein targets and preclinical drug candidates.