Ep. 261, Chapter 3: Epic Bio's Clinical Approach And Springbok Analytics Partnership With Amber Salzman, Ph.D.

12:12 – 16:55

Salzman describes Facio-scapulo-humeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), a debilitating genetic disease that causes progressive muscle weakness. It typically starts in the face, leading to difficulties with blinking and smiling, and then spreads to the upper body, eventually causing loss of mobility in many patients.

Epic Bio's lead candidate, EPI-321, is being developed to treat FSHD. To accurately measure the drug's effectiveness, the company has partnered with Springbok Analytics, which uses AI to analyze MRI muscle imaging. This technology tracks changes in fat fraction, inflammation, and muscle mass. Springbok's machine learning models correlate these imaging biomarkers with functional outcomes, providing a more comprehensive understanding of disease progression than traditional clinical endpoints like a 10-meter walk test. The partnership aims to provide regulators with clear evidence that EPI-321 is meaningfully impacting patients' muscle health and function.