BLUE BELL, Pa., Oct 14, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE Amex: INO), a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, announced today that a scientific paper demonstrating strong and protective immune responses from candidate SynCon(TM) DNA vaccines in preclinical studies using Inovio's intradermal (ID) DNA delivery technology was one of the top cited scientific articles in the past three years in the journal Vaccine. The article, "Intradermal/subcutaneous immunization by electroporation improves plasmid vaccine delivery and potency in pigs and rhesus macaques," appeared in the January 2008 edition of the journal Vaccine, whose editors tracked citations of all papers published in their journal. Dr. David B. Weiner, Professor of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Chairman of Inovio's Scientific Advisory Board, was the lead author of the paper.
Inovio's delivery technology applies controlled, millisecond electrical pulses to create permeability in the membrane of cells (electroporation), enabling dramatic uptake into the cells of biological material such as a DNA vaccine. Inovio's electroporation systems have been shown to increase cellular uptake of a vaccine 1000-fold or more and to increase levels of gene expression (production of the antigen coded by the DNA vaccine) up to 100-fold. These systems have been shown to be safe and well-tolerated in multiple human studies.
Inovio's clinical studies of electroporation-based delivery of DNA vaccines into muscle of prostate and cervical cancer patients have been among the first to demonstrate generation of potent antigen-specific antibody responses in humans. Inovio has also demonstrated that its SynCon(TM) DNA vaccines delivered using its new skin (ID/subcutaneous) electroporation delivery device elicited potent neutralizing antibody responses that have protected animals in influenza and smallpox challenge models.
Inovio's skin electroporation device includes a patented design that introduces a miniaturized array size and further optimization of electroporation conditions. A recent controlled study conducted in human volunteers showed that tolerability of this device was similar to conventional syringe-delivered vaccines. Inovio believes these important design outcomes could make such devices suitable for widely applicable preventive vaccine regimens against infectious diseases such as influenza, dengue and malaria. Inovio will employ this technology to deliver INO-3510, an initial version of its universal SynConTM DNA vaccine for influenza, consisting of the H5N1 and H1N1 subtypes, in a Phase I clinical trial beginning next year. The universal flu program will be funded in part by a recent grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. J. Joseph Kim, Inovio's President & CEO, said, "We're pleased at the recognition from scientists around the world of our DNA vaccine delivery technology as demonstrated by the number of times it was cited in other scientific papers worldwide. We're also proud of our longstanding and fruitful relationship with Dr. David Weiner. David is a pioneer in the field of DNA vaccines and continues to be at the forefront of new research and development to advance this important field of medicine."
About Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Inovio is developing a new generation of vaccines, called DNA vaccines, to treat and prevent cancers and infectious diseases. These SynCon(TM) vaccines are designed to provide broad cross-strain protection against known as well as newly emergent strains of pathogens such as influenza. These vaccines, in combination with Inovio's proprietary electroporation delivery devices, have been shown to be safe and generate significant immune responses. Inovio's clinical programs include HPV/cervical dysplasia and cancer (therapeutic), avian flu (preventive), and HIV vaccines (both preventive and therapeutic). Inovio is developing universal influenza and other vaccines in collaboration with scientists from the University of Pennsylvania. Other partners and collaborators include Merck, National Cancer Institute, U.S. Military HIV Research Program, HIV Vaccines Trial Network, National Microbiology Laboratory of the Public Health Agency of Canada, and PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative. More information is available at www.inovio.com.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to our business, including our plans to develop electroporation-based drug and gene delivery technologies and DNA vaccines and our capital resources. Actual events or results may differ from the expectations set forth herein as a result of a number of factors, including uncertainties inherent in pre-clinical studies, clinical trials and product development programs (including, but not limited to, the fact that pre-clinical and clinical results referenced in this release may not be indicative of results achievable in other trials or for other indications, that the studies or trials may not be successful or achieve the results desired, that results from one study may not necessarily be reflected or supported by the results of other similar studies and that results from an animal study may not be indicative of results achievable in human studies), the availability of funding to support continuing research and studies in an effort to prove safety and efficacy of electroporation technology as a delivery mechanism or develop viable DNA vaccines, the adequacy of our capital resources, the availability or potential availability of alternative therapies or treatments for the conditions targeted by the company or its collaborators, including alternatives that may be more efficacious or cost-effective than any therapy or treatment that the company and its collaborators hope to develop, evaluation of potential opportunities, issues involving product liability, issues involving patents and whether they or licenses to them will provide the company with meaningful protection from others using the covered technologies, whether such proprietary rights are enforceable or defensible or infringe or allegedly infringe on rights of others or can withstand claims of invalidity and whether the company can finance or devote other significant resources that may be necessary to prosecute, protect or defend them, the level of corporate expenditures, assessments of the company's technology by potential corporate or other partners or collaborators, capital market conditions, our ability to successfully integrate Inovio and VGX Pharmaceuticals, the impact of government healthcare proposals and other factors set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, our Form 10-Q for the six months ended June 30, 2010, and other regulatory filings from time to time. There can be no assurance that any product in Inovio's pipeline will be successfully developed or manufactured, that final results of clinical studies will be supportive of regulatory approvals required to market licensed products, or that any of the forward-looking information provided herein will be proven accurate.
SOURCE: Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
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