As momentum builds around next-generation approaches to treat chronic hepatitis B (HBV), Tune Therapeutics, a leading epigenome editing company, will spotlight new clinical data at the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) Congress 2026 that underscore the promise of its approach and potential to unlock a finite therapy. At the meeting, Dr. Ed Gane, Professor of Medicine at the University of Auckland and a globally recognized authority on HBV, will present late-breaking Phase 1b/2a results for the company’s lead program, TUNE-401, a first-in-class epigenetic silencer designed to achieve deep and durable antiviral activity.
“In my twenty-plus years of attending EASL, progress in HBV has been steady, yet finite therapies and hence curative approaches have remained elusive. The results we are sharing publicly for the first time this year highlight the potential of epigenome editing to silence the HBV transcriptional reservoir, cccDNA, and change that trajectory,” said John McHutchison, AO, MD, CEO of Tune Therapeutics.
The EASL Congress 2026 will take place May 27–30, 2026, in Barcelona, Spain.
Presentation details
Title: TUNE-401: a first-in-class epigenetic silencer of HBV demonstrates deep and durable antiviral activity in the phase 1b/2a proof of concept TUNE-401-001 study.
Presenter: Edward J. Gane
Session: Late-Breaker Presentations
Abstract number: LB26-5076
Presentation number: LBO-003
Date: May 30, 2026
Time: 13:30 CEST
About Ed Gane, MD, MBChB
Dr. Ed Gane is Professor of Medicine at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and Chief Hepatologist, Transplant Physician, and Deputy Director of the New Zealand Liver Transplant Unit at Auckland City Hospital.
About TUNE-401
TUNE-401 is a first-in-class investigational product candidate for the treatment of Hepatitis B (HBV) infection. TUNE-401 utilizes Tune’s TEMPO platform to epigenetically silence the virus’s transcriptional reservoir, cccDNA, the “viral factories” necessary for sustained chronic HBV infection. Lipid nanoparticle technology for TUNE-401 has been provided by Acuitas Therapeutics Inc.
About Tune Therapeutics
Armed with its powerful and innovative genetic tuning platform (TEMPO), Tune Therapeutics aims to bring gene, cell, and regenerative therapies into a new era of human medicine – expanding their range of application from rare disease to common, chronic, and age-related conditions.
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