Inovio Pharmaceuticals

Inovio Pharmaceuticals is an American biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of synthetic DNA products for treating cancers and infectious diseases. In April 2020, Inovio was among some 100 companies, academic centers, or research organizations developing a vaccine candidate for treating people infected with COVID-19, with more than 170 total vaccine candidates in development (June 2020).[2][3]

Inovio Pharmaceuticals
Public
Traded asNASDAQ: INO
IndustryBiotechnology
Founded1983[1]
HeadquartersPlymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania
Key people
J. Joseph Kim (President and CEO)
Websiteinovio.com

Technology
See also: COVID-19 vaccine § Vaccine candidates

The Inovio technology is based on inserting engineered DNA into cells where it becomes incorporated into proteins involved in the immune response to cancers and viruses by producing T cells and antibodies that aid recovery from infection.[4] The technology can be "targeted" to specific types of cancer and immune diseases, such as those produced by a virus.[4]

During a meeting of the White House Coronavirus Task Force in March 2020, CEO, Joseph Kim, said that Inovio scientists had designed a vaccine candidate (INO-4800) for the COVID-19 coronavirus in January in just three hours after the virus genetic sequence was first published.[5]

Cellectra injection device

To facilitate use of its potential products, Inovio manufactures a proprietary injection device, called "Cellectra", which the company describes as providing a "brief electrical pulse to reversibly open small pores in the cell to allow the plasmids to enter, overcoming a key limitation of other DNA and other nucleic acid approaches, such as mRNA."[6] In June 2020 – in anticipation of the Inovio COVID-19 vaccine candidate becoming successful – the US Department of Defense invested US$71 million to further develop Cellectra as a handheld device and to preorder an undisclosed number of the devices.[7]

Vaccine development
See also: COVID-19 vaccine § 2020 projects

In a 2016 dose-escalation Phase I clinical trial to assess safety after intramuscular injection in healthy adults, the Inovio vaccine candidate, INO-4700 (also called GLS-5300 for development against Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus), proved to be safe with only mild symptoms and no adverse effects.[8] The trial also demonstrated immunogenicity by dose-independent immune responses detected in more than 85% of subjects after two vaccinations that were durable a year later.[8]

In February 2020 after receiving details of the genetic sequence of the coronavirus, Inovio announced that it had produced a preclinical DNA-based vaccine as a potential therapy for COVID-19.[5][9] Inovio is in competition to develop a coronavirus vaccine with numerous other companies, which were conducting preclinical or early-stage human research on more than 170 vaccine candidates, as of late June.[3] In April 2020, Inovio began a Phase I trial of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate, INO-4800.[10]

Partnerships

In January 2020, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) announced it would grant of up to $9 million to Inovio for development of a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2.[11] Inovio has partnerships to develop its COVID-19 vaccine candidate with CEPI, the South Korean National Institute of Health, and the International Vaccine Institute.[12]

Clinical research
See also: COVID-19 vaccine § Clinical trials started in 2020

Inovio is collaborating with Beijing Advaccine Biotechnology Co., a Chinese biotech firm,[9] in order to speed its acceptance by regulatory authorities in China, with plans to begin human clinical trials of a candidate vaccine in China during the first half of 2020.[2][13] Inovio has partnerships with manufacturers to scale up production of a vaccine if preliminary efficacy trials are successful.[9] In April 2020, the company began human Phase I safety studies of its lead vaccine (INO-4800) in the United States, and a Phase I-II trial in South Korea, to test for immunization against the COVID-19 virus.[2][14]

In early June, Inovio partnered with the International Vaccine Institute and Seoul National University, South Korea, to advance human research on INO-4800 in a Phase I-II safety and efficacy trial to be conducted on 120 participants at Seoul National University Hospital beginning in June.[15] The trial is funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and supported by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Korea National Institute of Health.[15]

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See also

References
  1. "Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc". CNN Business. 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  2. Thanh Le, Tung; Andreadakis, Zacharias; Kumar, Arun; Gómez Román, Raúl; Tollefsen, Stig; Saville, Melanie; Mayhew, Stephen (9 April 2020). "The COVID-19 vaccine development landscape". Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. 19 (5): 305–306. doi:10.1038/d41573-020-00073-5. ISSN 1474-1776. PMID 32273591.
  3. "COVID-19 vaccine tracker (Select vaccine tab)". Milken Institute. 22 June 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2020. Lay summary.
  4. Roybal, Kole T.; Lim, Wendell A. (26 April 2017). "Synthetic immunology: Hacking immune cells to expand their therapeutic capabilities". Annual Review of Immunology. 35 (1): 229–253. doi:10.1146/annurev-immunol-051116-052302. ISSN 0732-0582. PMC 5555230. PMID 28446063.
  5. Ciara Linnane (8 March 2020). "Inovio shares rally after biotech says human trials of coronavirus vaccine will start in April". MarketWatch. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  6. "Proprietary smart devices (Cellectra)". Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  7. Lee, Jaimy (2020-06-23). "Inovio shares jump on government funding for vaccine device". MarketWatch. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  8. Modjarrad, Kayvon; Roberts, Christine C; Mills, Kristin T; Castellano, Amy R; Paolino, Kristopher; Muthumani, Kar; Reuschel, Emma L; Robb, Merlin L; Racine, Trina; Oh, Myoung-don; Lamarre, Claude; Zaidi, Faraz I; Boyer, Jean; Kudchodkar, Sagar B; Jeong, Moonsup; Darden, Janice M; Park, Young K; Scott, Paul T; Remigio, Celine; Parikh, Ajay P; Wise, Megan C; Patel, Ami; Duperret, Elizabeth K; Kim, Kevin Y; Choi, Hyeree; White, Scott; Bagarazzi, Mark; May, Jeanine M; Kane, Deborah; Lee, Hyojin; Kobinger, Gary; Michael, Nelson L; Weiner, David B; Thomas, Stephen J; Maslow, Joel N (2019). "Safety and immunogenicity of an anti-Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus DNA vaccine: a phase 1, open-label, single-arm, dose-escalation trial". The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 19 (9): 1013–1022. doi:10.1016/s1473-3099(19)30266-x. ISSN 1473-3099. PMC 7185789. PMID 31351922.
  9. Mike Freeman. "Is a vaccine for the coronavirus coming? Inovio says it has designed one in San Diego". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  10. Clinical trial number NCT04336410 for "Safety, Tolerability and Immunogenicity of INO-4800 for COVID-19 in Healthy Volunteers" at ClinicalTrials.gov
  11. "Plymouth Meeting's Inovio Pharmaceuticals granted $9 million to develop a vaccine for current coronavirus in China". More Than The Curve. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  12. "IVI, INOVIO, and KNIH to partner with CEPI in a Phase I/II clinical trial of INOVIO's COVID-19 DNA vaccine in South Korea". International Vaccine Institute. 16 April 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  13. Mazumdar, Tulip (30 January 2020). "Coronavirus: Scientists race to develop a vaccine". BBC News - Health. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  14. "IVI, INOVIO, and KNIH to partner with CEPI in a Phase I/II clinical trial of INOVIO's COVID-19 DNA vaccine in South Korea". International Vaccine Institute. 2020-04-16. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  15. "IVI and SNU partner to trial Inovio Covid-19 vaccine in Korea". Clinical Trials Arena. 2020-06-05. Retrieved 2020-06-08.

Further reading
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