Advancing therapeutics for chronic liver disease
and inflammation.

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Discover our lead program HPN-01, pioneering, oral, long-acting IKKα/β inhibitor.

Hepanova is a clinical-stage company developing first-in-class therapeutics for chronic liver disease and inflammation.

About Us

Our journey began over 16 years ago with target discovery and mechanistic studies by our team’s research efforts, followed by high-throughput screening and medicinal chemistry, culminating in multiple classes of IKK inhibitors and our lead clinical candidate, HPN-01.

Discover HPN-01

Addressing Unmet Needs in Liver Disease

The Unmet Needs

Chronic liver diseases such as MASH and inflammatory liver conditions affect millions worldwide, with limited effective therapies for patients with advanced fibrosis and inflammation.
Current treatment options fail to adequately address disease progression and long-term outcomes.

Our Science Approach

Multi-Pathway Targeting
Simultaneously addressing steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis.
Dual Impact
Treats both MASH and its progression to HCC.
Oral, Long-Acting Modality
Convenient weekly dosing with strong safety and PK profile.

Combination-Ready
Designed for potential combination with GLP-1 agonists and other standards of care.

Introducing Our Lead Program

HPN-01

Name: Hepanova Inc
Address: 401 Professional Drive, Gaithersburg, MD, 20879-3429, US
Telephone: +1 (240) 702-0066

HPN-01 is Hepanova’s lead clinical candidate and the only first-in-class, oral, highly selective
IKKα/β inhibitor designed for chronic liver disease and inflammation.

Advanced Fibrosis – Focused
MASH Program

Targeting high-risk patients with limited treatment options

HPN-01 is designed for MASH patients with advanced fibrosis (F2–F4), addressing steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis through a differentiated, upstream mechanism.

Clinically Validated Phase 1
Completed

Demonstrated safety and pharmacokinetics in humans

HPN-01 has completed a U.S. Phase 1 clinical trial, showing excellent safety and PK to support long-term, chronic use.

Strong potential in IBD and
Inflammatory indications

Broad anti-inflammatory potential beyond liver disease

HPN-01 has shown strong preclinical activity in IBD models, supporting development in both acute and chronic inflammatory conditions.

Efficient Multi-Indication
Development Strategy

Leveraging cross-usable clinical and translational data

Future expansion is planned using shared Phase 1 data to enable rapid, capital-efficient advancement into additional indications.

HPN-01: Strategic Value in MASH

Central IKK/NF-κB Control of Disease Programs

Resetting core disease programs in advanced MASH

HPN-01: Strategic Value in IBD

Central IKK/NF-κB Control of Inflammatory Networks

Validating central inflammatory–stress modulation beyond liver disease

IBD represents a well-validated inflammatory disease context to demonstrate the system-level impact of central IKK/NF-κB modulation.
NF-κB signaling is a central driver of both acute inflammation and chronic immune dysregulation in IBD.

Dual IKKα/β modulation enables control of both inflammatory cascades and chronic lymphoid drivers.

This mirrors the same upstream control logic applied in MASH.
Once-weekly oral dosing, designed to improve adherence versus injectables and daily JAK inhibitors.
Gut-targeted enteric formulation, enabling preferential drug exposure at the site of intestinal inflammation.
Controlled NF-κB modulation, reducing peak-related toxicity while maintaining efficacy.
Enables rapid Phase 2 entry leveraging existing Phase 1 safety and PK data.
Positions HPN-01 as a step-up or add-on therapy in UC/CD, including steroid-sparing potential.
Expands partnering and commercial optionality in a multi-billion-dollar IBD market.

Why choose Hepanova

Technology Platform

Hepanova’s technology platform, rooted in decades of NIH- and Harvard-derived research, enables the efficient creation of first-in-class therapies for chronic liver and inflammatory diseases by integrating proprietary discovery, translational science, and clinical execution.

Flagship First-in-Class Pipeline (HPN-01 Series)

The HPN-01 series represents a novel class of oral, long-acting small molecules targeting upstream inflammatory and fibrotic drivers. With broad anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic activity, the program is positioned across MASH, liver fibrosis, IBD, and related indications, serving as clinical validation of the platform.

First-in-Class Drug Design Platform

Hepanova’s medicinal chemistry engine is designed to tackle historically challenging targets and generate differentiated chemical matter. The platform combines proprietary compound libraries, large-scale screening, and PK/PD-driven optimization to create long-acting, tissue-selective oral molecules suitable for chronic use.

Platform Beyond a Single Asset

Hepanova’s repeatable platform continuously generates new discovery and preclinical programs, enabling pipeline expansion, combination strategies, and strategic partnerships beyond any single product.

Clinical-Ready Development Engine

A streamlined development framework supports rapid progression from IND-enabling studies through early clinical proof of concept. Expertise in Phase 1 safety, pharmacokinetics, and multi-indication development enables efficient scaling across programs sharing common biology.

Disease Biology & Target Discovery

Differentiation is driven by deep mechanistic insight into upstream disease drivers shared across liver and inflammatory disorders. The platform leverages human genetics, pathology, and advanced disease models to interrogate inflammatory signaling, fibrogenesis, immune–stromal crosstalk, and the gut–liver axis.

Translational Science & Human Relevance

Human relevance is built in from the start through biomarker strategies aligned with clinical endpoints, integration of human tissues and ex vivo models, and mechanism-linked pharmacodynamic readouts that enable early de-risking.

Pipeline

A focused pipeline led by a first-in-class program with expansion potential across liver and inflammatory diseases.

Discovery

Preclinical

IND Enabling

Phase 1

Phase 2

HPN-01
(Pioneering, oral dual IKK⍺/IKKβ inhibitor)

MASH with fibrosis (F2–F4)

HCC (Hepatocellular Carcinoma)

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (UC/CD)

MetALD (Alcoholic Steatohepatitis)

Autoimmune Cholestatic Liver Disease (PSC, PBC)

HPN-102
(GalNAc siRNA)

MASH with fibrosis (F2–F3)

HPN-205
(integrin antagonist)

Fibrosis

World-Class Scientific

Advisory Board

Randy W. Schekman
PhD

2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator
Professor of molecular and cell biology at UC Berkeley
Member, National Academy of Sciences
Member, National Academy of Medicine

Ning Li
MD, PhD

Chairman of Board, TopAlliance Biosciences
Former CEO, Junshi Biosciences
Former Vice President and Head of Region Asia Regulatory Affairs and Medical Policy at Sanofi
Former Branch Chief at FDA

Ke Li
PhD

Distinguished Professor in Medicinal Chemistry
Invented and commercialized First-in-Class anti-HBV drug YouHeDingⓇ, approved by China FDA in 2006
Over 30 years of leading role in anti-tumor, antiviral and liver disease new drug R&D

Founder & Management Team

Frank Q. Li, MD, PhD

Founder, President & CEO

Serial scientific entrepreneur with successful exits
12 yrs translational hepatology research at the NIH
Physician specialized in GI and liver diseases
Guest Professorship at multiple universities
40+ high-impact peer-reviewed publications
15+ patents

T. Jake Liang, MD

Co-Founder

NIH Distinguished Investigator
Chief, Liver Diseases Branch, NIDDK
Deputy Director of Translational Research, NIDDK
Past President, AASLD

Mazen Noureddin, MD, MHSc

Chief Medical Officer

Advisory Board for GSK, Merck, Novo Nordisk, BI, Takeda, 89BIO, Madrigal, Terns
Co-Chairman & CSO, Summit Clinical Research
Professor of Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital
Director, Houston Liver Institute

Belle X. Wang, PhD

Chief Operating Officer

Over 20 years of experience in oncology and liver disease across both academic and industry settings

Ella Li, PhD

Chief Business Officer

Founding Partner of H7 BioCapital
Seasoned scientific entrepreneur and investor

Sophie Lin, PhD

SVP, Business Development

Experienced business development leader with a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology, combining deep scientific expertise with a proven track record in building strategic partnerships

Tiffany Li, MS Pharm

Head, Clinical Operations (Asia)

Over 15 years of executive experience in clinical operations across multiple MNCs and biopharma

Elisavet Serti Chrisos, PhD

Head, Clinical Research (US)

Over 10 years of leading design and implementation of clinical trials of hepatology and immune-modulatory drugs

Advancing the Next Generation of Liver Therapies

Hepanova is committed to transforming the treatment of chronic liver disease and inflammation through rigorous science and differentiated clinical innovation.