Epimmune () is developing a vaccine for the treatment of hepatitis C. The company uses their epitope identification system
(EIS) to identify epitopes that belong only to the hepatitis C virus. The Epimmune vaccine uses a variety of T-cell
epitopes, designed to elicit a strong CD4+ and CD8+ cellular response. Certain peptides are chosen by a computer program
that uses a database of sequenced HCV proteins, from which it selects short peptide sequences for use in the vaccine. Often,
multiple peptides are found, which can react with as many as three superfamilies of molecules, guaranteeing a broad coverage.
Eppimmune has developed a group of molecules called PADRE that can be combined with epitopes to use in vaccines against viruses.
PADRE can improve the magnitude and duration of the immune response. Phase I /II trials of its vaccine are in progress.
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