EIT Pharma

Company Overview

A privately held US biotechnology company advancing lonafarnib, the only oral candidate in late-stage clinical development for chronic hepatitis D, with an FDA new drug application accepted for review in August 2026. EIT Pharma focuses on serious viral diseases with high unmet medical need, building its pipeline around two antiviral programs acquired through a court-supervised bankruptcy sale. The company describes its approach as an efficient, iterative development process targeting diseases where existing options are limited or absent.

Headquarters and Global Presence

EIT Pharma is headquartered in Kirkland, Washington, at 11335 NE 122nd Way, Suite 105. The company is US-based and privately held, with no public market listing. Its clinical trial footprint reflects the global nature of the D-LIVR program, which enrolled patients across 21 countries.

Founding and History

EIT Pharma was incorporated as Eiger InnoTherapeutics, Inc. and later renamed. The company was formed to acquire specific antiviral assets from Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, which filed for voluntary Chapter 11 protection on 1 April 2024. Through a Section 363 court process, Eiger InnoTherapeutics agreed on 1 August 2024 to purchase the lonafarnib program for $5.2 million and the peginterferon lambda-1a program for $1.0 million. The Bankruptcy Court approved the sale on 20 August 2024 and it closed on 3 September 2024; EIT Pharma is the buyer of those programs, not a corporate successor to Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, which wound down separately.

Therapy Areas and Focus

EIT Pharma's entire clinical focus sits in viral hepatology and antiviral infectious disease. Chronic hepatitis D is its primary target: a life-threatening liver disease caused by hepatitis D virus in people co-infected with hepatitis B, and the most severe form of viral hepatitis due to rapid progression toward liver failure and liver-related death. No oral therapy is currently approved for the disease in the United States, making the clinical case for lonafarnib straightforward even if the absolute response rates from the Phase III trial have drawn scrutiny.

Technology Platforms and Modalities

Lonafarnib is a small-molecule farnesyltransferase inhibitor taken orally and stored at room temperature. It targets prenylation of the hepatitis D virus large antigen, a step required for viral assembly and release, thereby disrupting the HDV life cycle directly. In the D-LIVR trial, lonafarnib was pharmacokinetically boosted with ritonavir to increase systemic exposure. The oral route and ambient storage are the attributes that distinguish it most sharply from Gilead's approved injectable competitor Hepcludex.

Key Pipeline and Programs

Lonafarnib is EIT Pharma's lead asset and the subject of an NDA under FDA review following successful completion of the Phase III D-LIVR study. D-LIVR was the largest clinical trial conducted in chronic hepatitis delta, enrolling more than 400 patients across 21 countries in a global, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design over 48 weeks. Both lonafarnib-based arms met the composite primary endpoint, requiring at least a 2-log decline in HDV RNA together with normalization of alanine aminotransferase. The all-oral lonafarnib/ritonavir arm achieved a 10.1% response rate (p=0.0044), while the arm combining lonafarnib/ritonavir with peginterferon alfa achieved 19.2% (p less than 0.0001). Both separated from placebo on virologic and biochemical component endpoints. The absolute response rates are modest by conventional standards, which is the principal clinical debate the FDA review will need to resolve. Lonafarnib holds Breakthrough Therapy, Fast Track, and Orphan Drug designations.

Peginterferon lambda-1a is EIT Pharma's second program, acquired from the same Eiger bankruptcy sale for $1.0 million. It is in Phase II for chronic hepatitis D and for severe acute viral respiratory tract infection. The asset carries a safety footnote: the predecessor LIMT-2 Phase III study in chronic hepatitis delta was stopped by Eiger in September 2023 after a data safety monitoring board flagged hepatobiliary events in four patients. EIT Pharma's plans for its clinical development have not been publicly detailed beyond the Phase II listing.

Recent Developments

On 11 August 2026, the FDA accepted for review EIT Pharma's NDA for lonafarnib in chronic hepatitis D; no PDUFA target action date has been published. Twenty days later, on 31 August 2026, the company closed an oversubscribed $35 million Series A financing round to fund the FDA review process and manufacturing and commercial preparations. Those two events together represent the company's transition from clinical-stage acquirer to pre-commercial biotech. The competitive landscape shifted on 22 May 2026, when the FDA granted accelerated approval to Gilead Sciences' injectable Hepcludex (bulevirtide-gmod) as the first approved treatment for chronic hepatitis D in the United States.

Key Personnel

Leen Kawas, PhD, serves as chief executive officer. She is a co-founder and managing general partner at Propel Bio Partners, the lead investor in EIT Pharma's Series A, and was previously president and chief executive officer of Athira Pharma until October 2021. Jeffrey Glenn, MD, PhD, is a co-founder of EIT Pharma and the Joseph D. Grant Professor of Medicine and of Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University.

Strategic Partnerships

The $35 million Series A closed on 31 August 2026 was led by Propel Bio Partners, with participation from Good Ventures, Arrowtown, and others. The relationship between Propel Bio Partners and EIT Pharma runs deeper than a typical lead investor: court filings in the Eiger bankruptcy case placed Eiger InnoTherapeutics at the same address as Propel Bio Management LLC, and two of the three founding board members were managing partners at Propel Bio. EIT Pharma remains privately held with no disclosed licensing or co-development partnerships beyond the original bankruptcy asset acquisition.

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