EPOS-1

Despite tremendous research efforts during the last years, there is to date no therapy that specifically treats the underlying organ dysfunction in sepsis. It has recently been shown that low-dose epirubicin, a drug that has been used in cancer therapy for over 30 years, reduces sepsis mortality by limiting organ damage in animal models acting via enforcing disease tolerance to infection.

EPOS-1 is investigating this effect in septic patients. It is a randomized, controlled, double-blind, phase 2 escalation study. The primary aim of this study is to demonstrate safety and tolerability of a low dose of epirubicin in sepsis patients. This study is a completely new therapeutic approach and the first study to therapeutically address disease tolerance mechanisms in sepsis.

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05033808

EPOS-1 is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) grant 01EN2001.