Hepion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCQB: HEPA) is a development-stage company focused on the early detection of liver cancer. Our board and management were reconstituted in March 2026 by an investor group that has previously executed a public-company turnaround, and management is compensated in equity alongside outside shareholders.
What we hold
An exclusive licence to Cirna Diagnostics’ mutant circulating tumour RNA (ctRNA) biomarker assay for the early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma in high-risk cirrhotic patients, secured on 25 February 2026. The assay was developed at the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute, named for the 1976 Nobel laureate who discovered the hepatitis B virus. The underlying work sits in the peer-reviewed literature rather than being held as private data — it can be examined directly.
Clinical validation has not commenced, there is no clearance or approval, and the assay is not commercially available.
Why it matters
Liver cancer is curable at diagnosis in BCLC stage 0–A and almost never curable after it. The current standard of care reaches roughly 15% of that curable window: 24.0% of eligible patients receive surveillance, and ultrasound with AFP finds 63% of early disease. The opportunity is the remaining 85%.
Ultrasound sees roughly half of curable-stage tumours, and performs worse in obesity and steatosis — precisely the patients now driving HCC incidence. Meanwhile the pathway remains anchored to cirrhosis in subspecialty clinics, while incidence shifts to metabolic liver disease that often never becomes cirrhotic.
Where we are going
Management intends to assemble a portfolio across immunology, inflammation and opportunistic adjacencies, applying the same restructuring discipline it has executed previously: human-validated assets, definable regulatory paths, milestone-weighted consideration. No such transaction is under binding agreement.
