- Treatment with EBT-107 led to a rapid reduction in clinical biomarkers and suppression of random HBV DNA integration with minimal risk of treatment-related chromosomal aberrations
- Excision’s proprietary gene editing technology holds unique, curative potential to address the primary cause of liver cancer
- Chronic hepatitis B infection is estimated to affect 250 million people globally, including 1.5 million new cases each year
Preclinical data supports advancing EBT-107 into IND-enabling studies and clinical trials
WATERTOWN, Mass., May 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Excision BioTherapeutics, Inc. (“Excision”, the “Company”), a biotechnology company developing CRISPR-based therapies to cure viral infectious diseases, today announced publication of a preprint demonstrating proof-of-concept studies of EBT-107, a therapeutic candidate for chronic hepatitis B in bioRxiv.
EBT-107 is a CRISPR-based gene therapy that is being developed as a potential cure for chronic hepatitis B. The CRISPR/Cas gene editing system is formulated in lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) and is transiently activated to eliminate episomal and integrated HBV DNA copies by editing the viral DNA sequences at two well-conserved viral target sites.
“Positive preclinical data shown in the bioRxiv preprint demonstrate that EBT-107 shows promise in achieving long-rerm remission of chronic hepatitis B with minimal off-target effects such as chromosomal abnormalities,” said Daniel Dornbusch, Chief Executive Officer of Excision. “Chronic hepatitis B is known as the primary cause of liver cancer (including hepatocellular carcinoma) globally, without any new class of treatment approved over the last decades. Excision is pioneering a CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing approach utilizing a pair of guide RNAs for rapid clearance of HBV DNA, which has proven difficult with standard of care treatment for chronic hepatitis B. As the data from this study show, targeting viral DNAs led not only to substantial inhibition of viral gene expression and replication, but also to suppression of random viral DNA integration, providing us with a strong rationale for continuing to advance EBT-107 into the IND-enabling studies and clinical trials.”
The article entitled, “Multiplex Gene Editing Suppresses Random Integration of Hepatitis B Virus DNA in Chronically Infected Liver” is available online.
About Chronic Hepatitis B
Chronic hepatitis B caused by infection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the most prevalent infectious diseases worldwide that lacks curative therapies. While existing antiviral and immunomodulator treatments slow progression of liver disease by reducing viral load, they fail to eliminate covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) that enables persistent viral infection. Excision’s lead product candidate for the treatment of HBV infection, EBT-107, uses dual guide RNAs to excise large sections of viral DNA and effectively deactivate the virus.
About Excision BioTherapeutics, Inc.
Excision BioTherapeutics, Inc. develops CRISPR-based medicines as potential cures for serious viral infectious diseases. The Company’s proprietary, multiplexed gene editing platform unites CRISPR technologies with a novel gene editing approach which demonstrated the ability to stop viral replication. Excision’s pipeline targets large, underserved markets including hepatitis B virus (HBV), herpes simplex virus (HSV-1 keratitis), and human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1). Excision’s platform has been tested and demonstrated safety in a human clinical study in the United States. Excision’s foundational technologies were developed in the laboratories of Dr. Kamel Khalili at Temple University and Dr. Jennifer Doudna at the University of California, Berkeley. For more information, please visit www.excision.bio.
Contact:
John Fraunces
LifeSci Advisors
917-355-2395
jfraunces@lifesciadvisors.com
