Hyundai BioScience showcased its universal antiviral candidate, Jepti (CP-COV03), at IDWeek 2026, a major infectious disease conference in the U.S. Professor David Smith from UC San Diego School of Medicine presented the clinical development strategy and progress of Jepti, which targets dengue fever and similar diseases.
Hyundai Bio announced on Monday that it had officially presented the integrated Phase 2/3 clinical trial DEN-201 for dengue fever and related infectious diseases at IDWeek 2026, held in Washington, D.C., from October 21 to 24.
Professor Smith, an expert in infectious diseases and virology, has conducted extensive research on HIV and COVID-19 treatments. He previously served as the international protocol chair for the ACTIV-2 therapeutic study, part of the U.S. government’s COVID-19 response program.
Jepti aims to address the significant treatment gap in febrile viral infections. With no specific treatment currently available for dengue fever and its initial symptoms resembling other viral diseases, diagnosis can be challenging. Hyundai Bio’s strategy is to develop an oral treatment effective against multiple viruses, expanding early intervention options.
Universal antivirals are designed to combat multiple virus types, not just one specific strain. This approach aims to overcome the limitations of developing individual treatments for each virus and offers broader applicability when new viruses emerge.
Patient enrollment and dosing are currently underway in Vietnam. The DEN-201 trial, approved by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, is being conducted at the National Institute of Tropical Medicine (NHTD) and Tien Giang General Hospital (TGGH).
The initial blinded integrated safety analysis presented at the conference reported no serious adverse events (SAEs), severe adverse reactions, or deaths. Treatment-related adverse reactions were limited to mild or moderate gastrointestinal symptoms. However, this preliminary analysis did not distinguish between treatment and placebo groups, and safety and efficacy evaluations are ongoing.
Future development plans include expanding both the target population and the range of diseases. The company reports that Vietnamese health authorities have expressed support for extending the trials to include children and the elderly, pending confirmation of safety and efficacy in adult clinical trials.
Hyundai Bio intends to determine dosing for subsequent clinical trials based on safety and efficacy data from Phase 2 trials. For Phase 3, the company aims to broaden the trial design to encompass similar febrile viral diseases such as Zika, influenza, and COVID-19, alongside dengue fever.
Kim Taek-sung, head of Hyundai Bio’s U.S. subsidiary, emphasized the significance of the IDWeek presentation, stating that Professor Smith, a leader in international antiviral clinical development, directly presented Jepti’s clinical design and progress to the global infectious disease community. It plans to accelerate subsequent clinical trials and global collaborations based on the data gathered from the trials in Vietnam.
