EpiVax Announces New CTO as Company Advances in Immunoinformatics Technology

EpiVax's Technological Leadership Strengthened by New CTO Appointment

EpiVax, Inc., a distinguished player in immunoinformatics, proudly announces the appointment of Guilhem Richard as their new Chief Technology Officer. Dr. Richard, who joined the EpiVax immunoinformatics team in 2014, has been pivotal in developing a sophisticated platform for personalized neoantigen-based cancer vaccines, branded Ancer®. From 2019 to 2024, he led the implementation of this technology at EpiVax Therapeutics, Inc., a subsidiary of EpiVax. Today, he is set to spearhead innovative efforts at EpiVax and oversee the evolution of new computational tools designed to evaluate immunogenicity effectively.

Dr. Richard’s educational background includes a Master of Engineering in Bioinformatics and Modeling from the National Institute of Applied Sciences (INSA) in Lyon, France, as well as a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics from Boston University. His expertise positions him well to enhance EpiVax's technological capabilities, aligning with recent advancements in the firm’s offerings.

In tandem with Dr. Richard’s promotion, EpiVax has reported substantial progress driven by the integration of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) techniques into its Immunogenicity Survival Predictive Risk and Intelligence (ISPRI) platform. These cutting-edge updates significantly improve the platform's capabilities to assess the immunogenicity risk of biological therapeutics. Notably, researchers have refined their predictions of tolerated epitopes, improving both the precision and recall of their JanusMatrix model by an impressive 50%. Furthermore, the newly developed immunogenicity models, which predict the occurrence of anti-drug antibodies (ADAs) against monoclonal therapeutics, have achieved a sixfold increase in correlation between predicted and observed results compared to existing methods. This development has also led to a remarkable 85% reduction in false-negative rates.

These updated tools are expected to be available on EpiVax's ISPRI platform, accessible through both Software as a Service (SaaS) and fee-for-service models, enhancing the accuracy of key evaluation steps in the development processes for global biotech and pharmaceutical partners.

In addition to these advancements, EpiVax has submitted a new Model Master File (MMF) for its PANDA® in-silico model to the FDA. This submission aims to facilitate regulatory filings supporting the expedited approval process for Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs) pertaining to generic peptide drugs. The PANDA® MMF includes detailed descriptions of the methodologies and models assessing the immunogenicity of peptide drugs and their impurities. This new level of accessibility is a significant stride towards streamlining the preparation and review of ANDAs, allowing sponsors to simplify their submissions while providing FDA reviewers with comprehensive validation information pertaining to EpiVax’s immunogenicity models.

EpiVax remains committed to innovation, with plans for multiple enhancements for the ISPRI platform, including a new version of the EpiMatrix®, further advancing the toolkit’s predictive capabilities. Moreover, guided analytics features and an updated user interface for ISPRI are set to improve user experiences, assisting partners in optimizing their pipelines.

About EpiVax

EpiVax stands at the forefront of preclinical immunogenicity assessment and sequence optimization for peptide therapeutics, biological therapeutics, and vaccines. Collaborating with numerous global companies, regulatory agencies, and researchers, EpiVax is dedicated to accelerating immunogenicity risk assessment, immune modulation, and the swift development of vaccines. For additional information, the media can contact Sarah Moniz, Director of Corporate Development at EpiVax, via email.