A tablet, not an operating room. Antiva is developing the first drug to actually treat HPV - the virus behind most cervical cancer.
HPV - human papillomavirus - is one of the most common infections in the world and the cause of nearly all cervical cancer. Yet for a disease this widespread, the medical toolkit has a strange gap: there are vaccines to prevent HPV and there is surgery to remove the lesions it leaves behind, but there is no approved drug to treat the infection itself. Antiva Biosciences exists to close that gap.
Founded in 2012 on lipophilic prodrug chemistry developed by Dr. Karl Hostetler at UC San Diego, Antiva builds topical antiviral therapeutics that a patient can administer herself. The lead candidate, ABI-2280, is formulated as a vaginal tablet. It is designed to block HPV DNA replication and push infected cells toward apoptosis - clearing the virus and the pre-cancerous lesions it drives.
The target patients are women with high-risk HPV infection and high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN 2,3), the pre-cancerous stage that today is typically managed with watchful waiting or surgical excision. Antiva's premise is simple to state and hard to deliver: intercept the disease earlier, at home, before it ever becomes cancer or requires a procedure that can affect a woman's ability to carry a pregnancy.
It is a clinical-stage company, meaning its product is still in trials rather than on pharmacy shelves. But the direction is unusual in a field crowded with prevention and screening - Antiva is squarely focused on the treatment step that everyone agrees is missing.
HPV is not a rare disease. It is a routine one that becomes deadly when nothing intervenes between infection and cancer.
In a 139-patient study of women aged 25-55 with a documented high-risk HPV infection, ABI-2280 met its primary endpoint. The gap between drug and placebo is the whole story.
Durability: 87% of patients who cleared HPV at week 12 stayed negative at week 24. Treatment was reported safe and well tolerated, with mild-to-moderate events localized to the treatment area.
Figures are approximate top-line results as reported by the company; see sources.
A topical, self-administered vaginal tablet built from a lipophilic antiviral prodrug. It blocks HPV replication and induces apoptosis in infected cells, targeting both high-risk HPV infection and high-grade cervical lesions (CIN 2,3).
The earlier topical antiviral prodrug, evaluated in Phase 1b studies for high-grade cervical and anal dysplasia before the program advanced to the more potent ABI-2280.
Formulating the therapy as a tablet a woman uses herself is a deliberate access choice - it reaches patients far from gynecologic surgery and fits the WHO's screen-and-treat model.
The alternatives to Antiva are not really rival drugs - they are the absence of one. Prevention is handled by HPV vaccines like Gardasil, but a vaccine does nothing for the millions of women already infected. Once a lesion appears, care means watchful waiting or a surgical procedure (LEEP, conization, cryotherapy) that removes tissue and can carry risks to future fertility.
Antiva's differentiation is the category itself: a medicine that treats the infection rather than preventing it or excising its consequences. If ABI-2280 is approved, it would be the first drug of its kind. That is both the opportunity and the risk - there is no established regulatory or commercial path to follow, because nothing has walked it before.
Commercially, Antiva runs the classic venture-backed biotech model: raise equity, advance the science through trials, and create value by moving the lead candidate toward approval or partnership. With roughly 18 employees, it is a lean organization pointed at a single, large problem.
Its expertise is concentrated where it counts - antiviral prodrug chemistry, topical drug delivery, and gynecologic clinical development - backed by investors who specialize in life sciences and global health, including MPM-BioImpact Capital, Sofinnova, Canaan, GV, Adjuvant Capital and Lumira Ventures.
A fourteen-year build is expensive. Here is the capital that has gone into the bet.
Series E led by MPM-BioImpact Capital, with Canaan Partners, Sofinnova Investments, Adjuvant Capital, GV and Lumira Ventures.
Antiva is founded in South San Francisco on lipophilic prodrug science from Dr. Karl Hostetler at UC San Diego.
Closes a Series C to advance its topical HPV antiviral program.
Adds a Series C-1 extension to fund clinical development.
Raises a Series D to push ABI-2280 into the clinic.
Recognized as a winner of a Global Women's Health innovation award.
Kristine Ball becomes President & CEO; Gail Maderis moves to Board Chair.
46% HPV negativity vs 16% placebo at week 12, with 87% durability at week 24.
Presents the ABI-2280 dataset at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology Annual Meeting.
It develops topical, self-administered antiviral therapeutics for diseases caused by HPV, aiming to clear infection and treat pre-cancerous cervical lesions without surgery.
Antiva's lead candidate: a vaginal tablet made from a lipophilic antiviral prodrug that blocks HPV replication and induces apoptosis in infected cells. It is in Phase 1b/2 trials.
Yes. In a Phase 1b/2 study of 139 patients, 46% achieved HPV negativity at 12 weeks versus 16% on placebo, and 87% of responders remained negative at 24 weeks.
Through venture financing - roughly $142M across Series C through E, including a $53M Series E in April 2023 led by MPM-BioImpact Capital.
Kristine Ball is President & CEO (since April 2023). Gail Maderis, the prior CEO, serves as Board Chair. Antiva was scientifically founded by Dr. Karl Hostetler.