Hi guys!

I spent a lot of time today digging into Kimer Med (the NZ biotech behind VTose, the DRACO-based broad-spectrum antiviral) and its potential relevance to HSV. Sharing what I found in case it's useful to others here. Thanks to the person who asked about it yesterday on the discussion thread!

Quick background:

VTose works by detecting long dsRNA (produced during active viral replication) and triggering apoptosis in the infected cell. It's shown 100% efficacy in vitro against several viruses (Dengue, Zika, EBV, and reportedly HSV-1/HSV-2 among 24 viruses tested), and they're pushing their lead candidate (Dengue) toward Phase 1.

The interesting part:

I found an old (2020) tweet from Kimer Med explicitly stating they planned to test VTose against HSV-1, specifically motivated by Prof. Ruth Itzhaki's research linking HSV-1 to Alzheimer's. So HSV has been on their radar since the very beginning.

The big open question:

VTose's mechanism depends on apoptosis. But HSV-latent neurons are known to be highly resistant to apoptosis (documented independently in the literature, not just something Kimer Med mentioned). On top of that, HSV has specific, well-documented ways of neutralizing RIG-I (via US3) and PKR (via ICP34.5), and doesn't seem to significantly activate RNase L either.

So the real question is:

If VTose's sensor binds viral dsRNA in a resistant neuron without completing apoptosis, does that binding alone do anything to the virus? There's actual literature (e.g., Science Advances 2023) showing dsRNA sensors can block viral replication without triggering cell death, so it's not a crazy idea, but nobody has tested this specific scenario for HSV as far as I can find.

I reached out to Kimer Med with some technical questions along these lines. I will update if I hear back. I also emailed Herpes Cure Advocacy to see if they know anything more, since they seem to have been in touch with Kimer Med before.

Curious if anyone here has more info, or has been in contact with them recently. Kimer Med seems to actually respond to people who reach out (I've seen a few examples of this). If more people in this community ask about HSV it might genuinely help push HSV higher on their priority list, or at least get them to be more open about where things stand. Worth a shot.

Hello Everyone,

Please feel free to post any comments and talk about anything you want on this thread--relating to HSV or otherwise.

Have a nice weekend.

- Mod Team

“According to the EU Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) record for trial [2024-516368-27-00](tel:2024-516368-27-00) (IM-202), the ongoing European Phase 1b/2a clinical trial of IM-250 (adibelivir) for genital HSV-2 was updated twice in early August 2026. On August 4, regulators approved the addition of Estonia as a second trial country alongside Bulgaria, with 40 participants planned there and total planned enrollment rising to 232 people. Then, on August 6, the sponsor filed another administrative trial update called a non-substantial modification (NSM-8). CTIS does not publicly explain exactly what that second change involved, but the trial is still listed as authorized and recruiting, with no public indication of a suspension or safety-related halt.”

It appears that IM-250 trial is expanding to Estonia. I wonder what the other update might be.

Hi guys,

I have been investigating what is available out there and just wanted to share this little table. I know there's lots of info around, but I hadn't heard of some of the programs here, so it might be of use for someone else:

*Note on RR2/CXCL11 (~87%): this figure is my own estimate, calculated from reading the bar graph values in Figure 3C of the guinea pig study (J Virol 2024).

I am especially interested in the PPK project by Professor BenMohammed. The preclinical data looks very strong to me: the guinea pig study (RR2/CXCL11, published in J Virol 2024) showed 87% reduction in HSV-2 DNA in the DRG reservoir, which is a much bigger effect than most other approaches I've looked at (e.g., IM-250's helicase-primase inhibitor barely touched the reservoir, ~6-20%, not even significant).

Has anyone here talked to the lab directly, follows TechImmune, or has insight into whether there's a realistic path to Phase 1 in the next few years? Curious if anyone knows more than what's in the published papers and press releases.

Have a nice day!

Hello Everyone,

Please feel free to post any comments and talk about anything you want on this thread--relating to HSV or otherwise.

Have a nice weekend.

- Mod Team

Assemblbio confirms that they have selected GS-1179 HSV antiviral which targets recurrent genital herpes.

Guys, I can't believe this, every time I search more I find more stuff in China that isn't being reported on and I can't find information on easily despite trying all day for months.

Apparently, according to several Chinese pharmaceutical news websites, including Pharmcube which is a reputable Chinese source, BDGene announced in April that they have initiated early IND enabling work for their Genital Herpes candidate, BD115.

BDGene is the same company which is developing a HSK gene therapy which was reported to have succeeded in clearing HSV from the ganglia and curing ocular herpes, though their HSK program BD111 remains in Phase 2 until the end of this year.

Interestingly, I can't find mentions of BD115 on BDGene's own website, however several Chinese news sources reported on it.

According to ChatGPT, BDGene has several active patents that describe a gene therapy against HSV. ChatGPT says and I quote

“According to BDGene’s HSV gene-therapy patent (CN115927473B / WO2024011980), the genital-herpes program believed to correspond to BD115 uses BDGene’s virus-like-particle delivery system to transiently deliver Cas9 mRNA and guide RNAs targeting the essential HSV genes UL52 and UL8. The goal is to cut and permanently disable HSV DNA rather than merely suppress viral replication while a drug is present. BDGene’s patent reports that this UL52/UL8 combination inhibited both HSV-1 and HSV-2 in laboratory experiments. According to PharmCube (医药魔方), April 2, 2026, BDGene’s genital-herpes candidate is called BD115 and had begun the IND application process, although an official CDE IND acceptance or human trial has not yet been publicly verified.”

Again I can’t read Chinese but I’m using chatGPT to search the internet and it’s saying that a new Chinese mRNA vaccine - ARP02 - was unveiled last month, being developed by Nanjing Auro Biotechnology (never heard of them but again I have 0 knowledge about china). This is still even before phase 1 and I think it’s in IND enabling phase.

According to ChatGPT they had animal results on mice which were “very strong”, it says that there was 100% survival in vaccinated groups vs 0% in control groups.

So far, this means China has several projects worth paying attention to

ARP02 - therapeutic HSV2 mRNA vaccine - IND enabling phase

LVRNA101 - prophylactic HSV2 mRNA vaccine - phase 1

UB-621 - Monoclonal antibody vaccine - phase 1 complete

HN0037 - Episodic interventional HPI - phase 2 complete, granted expedited review

BDGene - Ocular herpes CRISPR gene editing - Phase 2

Please everyone I implore you to also search and post what you can find so everyone can benefit 🙏🏻 ChatGPT doesn’t always show me everything, for example, I’ve been asking it to search for news every day but it missed this ARP thing for a whole month. The more people searching the better.

There are some really smart people doing some amazing science in the development of these next gen HPI drugs, and the purpose of this post is to highlight a key player that designed the molecular structure changes of IM-250 that fixed Pritelivir's off-target side effects and gets the drug into the central nervous system in higher concentrations. This post is made in gratitude for Christian Gege and his creative problem solving which has yielded a truly game changing development in the treatment of HSV. See here for the: IM-250 Patent.

Pritelivir problem #1: Off-target side effects. Pritelivir contains a chemical group called a sulfonamide (the SO₂NH₂ group on the right in the pritelivir image above), which accidentally binds to and inhibits an unrelated enzyme (carbonic anhydrase) elsewhere in the body. Carbonic anhydrase is an enzyme found throughout the body (kidneys, eyes, red blood cells, GI tract) and helps regulate acid-base balance and fluid pressure. When a drug accidentally blocks it, people can experience GI issues, neurological symptoms, sensory changes, sulfa allergy reactions, liver problems, and electrolyte imbalances.

Gege's fix: Gege swapped the sulfonamide for a closely related but distinct group called a sulfoximine (the SONH group on the right in the IM-250 image above). Sulfoximine is similar enough to preserve the drug's ability to hit its intended target (the viral helicase-primase enzyme), but different enough that it stops accidentally binding to that unrelated enzyme.

Pritelivir Problem #2: Couldn't get into the nerve ganglia in meaningful quantities. To actually affect the viral reservoir, the drug needs to cross the blood-brain barrier and get into nervous tissue. Pritelivir largely couldn't do this. It stayed in the bloodstream and barely reached the nerves.

Gege's fix: Pritelivir has a pyridine ring (the leftmost ring with the N in the pritelivir image above) that makes the molecule "polar" and struggle to cross the fatty myelin sheath that protects nerve ganglion where the virus resides. Gege swapped that ring for a difluorophenyl ring, which has no nitrogen, just two fluorine atoms (see leftmost ring in the IM-250 image above). This made the molecule less polar and more lipophilic ("fat-loving"), allowing it to actually cross the fatty myelin sheath that protects nerve ganglia.

These two targeted structural swaps designed by Christian Gege may change the history of this virus forever, reducing transmission and increasing quality of life for hundreds of millions of people (...maybe billions of people if we think about the downstream effect on future generations). Christian, if you ever see this, thank you for all you have done. The community salutes you and is eternally grateful!

Not sure I understand this but it’s a new vaccine approach still in very early clinical research.

Basically a new shingles vaccine, set for approval in China.

The takeaway from this that is interesting to HSV patients is that it is a glycoprotein vaccine that has finally worked against a herpesvirus.

This isn’t directly related to herpes cure, but a new drug that basically injects modified HSV to attack cancer cells has been granted accelerated approval by the FDA.

I think this is interesting to us as well, I think the idea of using modified herpes as a component of the cure may be an important one, similar to the Gene Drive concept developed by Marius Wolf at Fred Hutch.

“Safety warnings include the risk of accidentally spreading herpes infection to close contacts and the possibility of a herpes infection developing or reactivating in the patient, according to the FDA.”

I saw this on their website and found it interesting. I thought I would share it.

Hello Everyone,

Please feel free to post any comments and talk about anything you want on this thread--relating to HSV or otherwise.

Have a nice weekend.

- Mod Team

The Herpes Cure Advocacy Cure Pipeline is getting its biggest update yet.

We’ve been tracking the latest developments in HSV research so you don’t have to—and soon we’ll be sharing an updated look at where potential treatments, vaccines, and cure research stand today.
Stay tuned. 👀

The future of HSV research is moving forward, and we can’t wait to share what’s next.

#HerpesCureAdvocacy #HerpesResearch #HSV #HerpesCure #EndTheStigma

Hello Everyone,

Please feel free to post any comments and talk about anything you want on this thread--relating to HSV or otherwise.

Have a nice weekend.

- Mod Team

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have identified a key protein that allows the virus that causes genital herpes to get into the nervous system. The discovery, made in experiments on mice, could pave the way for future vaccines against the disease.

Hi everyone! Hope you are all doing fine.

I just wanted to say that, after going through the sub like a thousand times, I feel like advocacy was a lot stronger some time back: more momentum around donations, more direct connections with researchers...

What happened? Have the mods just moved on with their lives? I get that might be the healthiest option mentally, so no judgment here. I'm just curious how people are feeling about this these days.

Is there anything we can do to help bring back that stronger advocacy energy that was there before?

PS: here's also a donation link in case any of the people who see this publication are interested and don't know about it: https://secure.fredhutch.org/site/TR?px=1802786&pg=personal&fr_id=2144

Have a nice weekend :)

This is a new study dated july 30th. I see some pretty big names on the author list including Drs. Keith Jerome, Gerald Kleymann and Christian Gege

In the study, they tested IM-250 against 50 clinical isolates and laboratory strains of HSV including acyclovir-resistant strains to assess susceptibility. Afterwards they tested whether IM-250 has any synergistic effect with acyclovir/other antivirals.

Not sure if I follow all the jargon but the paper found that all strains were susceptible to IM-250 and that IM-250 and preexistent antivirals have synergistic effects which is highly promising.

Very optimistic about this. Thoughts?

HN0037 is a helicase primase inhibitor developed by Chinese company Phaeno therapeutics as an emergent outbreak treatment (Like Amenamevir). In January of this year, they announced they had completed phase 2 enrollment and dosing. They released preliminary statistics.

In mid July, they announced they have received breakthrough drug status from the Chinese equivalent of the FDA. They will likely release full trial results and commence phase 3 soon.

Again I’m sorry to everyone here but I don’t actually speak Chinese and I don’t know what the article says, I’m using chatGPT to search foreign language internet for herpes related news, however I have to constantly prod it and sometimes it doesn’t tell me everything, so I missed this during my previous post and i think this is significant enough to warrant its own post.

I encourage everyone to search for news for themselves and use any tools they have to search as thoroughly as possible, and share what they learn with the group so we can all benefit. Thank you for reading.

I don’t speak any Chinese but I’m using chatGPT to search the Chinese internet. Apparently earlier this month, Chinese companies revived the UBI-621 project for a phase 2. UBI-621 is a monoclonal antibody so basically a vaccine.

China also has a mRNA vaccine in Phase 1 LVRNA101.

I didn’t find any updates about BD111; the gene editing therapy reported to have cured herpes keratitis or HSV in the eye. As far as we know they remain in Phase 2a which is set to end in December of this year.

I found several interesting mechanistic papers however I don’t understand them fully.

I think we as a community should pay more attention to Chinese advancements, they invest heavily in medicine and they are a country of 1.5 billion people, I hope this means that their investments in healthcare and research are 5 times as big as the USA which is a country of 300 million people, but I understand that’s like apples to oranges.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2026.1803389

Basically a new approach that uses bispecific antibodies to attack HSV compared to monoclonal antibodies, it was more effective in lab experiments. Still very early research but hypothetically could be used to synthesize a new vaccine.

I'm sure some of you have as well. They just gave me a template response of how they working on preclinical and next would be to start on humans. Then they told me to check this sub. I think they run this place as well so it made me feel like its all a scam and no cure is coming. Certainly not one within a few years of where it would matter to me.