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                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1

                         CERTIFICATION UNDER SECTION 302

I, Emile Loria, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Epimmune Inc.;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements
made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not
misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this annual report, fairly present in all material
respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the
registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4. The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financing
reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) for the
registrant and have:

   a) designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to
ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its
consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities,
particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;

   b) designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such
internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision,
to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting
and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance
with generally accepted accounting principles;

   c) evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls and
procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness
of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered
by this report based on such evaluation; and

   d) disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal control
over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's most recent
fiscal quarter that has materially affected or is reasonably likely to
materially affect, the registrant's internal control over financial reporting.

5. The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our
most recent evaluation, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of
registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
functions):

   a) all significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal
controls over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely
affect the registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report
financial information; and

   b) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other
employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal control over
financial reporting; and

Date: March 30, 2004
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                                          /s/ Emile Loria
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                                          Dr. Emile Loria
                                          President and Chief Executive Officer