Inovio Pharmaceuticals
Company type | Public |
---|---|
Nasdaq: INO | |
Industry | Biotechnology |
Founded | 1999 |
Headquarters | Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania |
Key people | Jacqueline Shea, Ph.D. (President and CEO) |
Products | DNA-based Medicines and Vaccines[1] |
Revenue | $7 Million(2020)[2] |
Number of employees | 262 [3] |
Website | inovio.com |
Inovio Pharmaceuticals is an American
Technology
The Inovio technology is based on inserting engineered DNA into cells, where it becomes transcribed into mRNA and translated into proteins. The proteins encoded by the DNA elicit immune response to antigens from cancers and viruses, by stimulating the production of T cells and antibodies that aid recovery.[6] The technology can be "targeted" to specific types of cancer and immune diseases, such as those produced by a virus.[6]
During a meeting of the
Shareholders sued Inovio in August 2020, claiming it exaggerated evidence of its coronavirus vaccine's efficacy in order to boost its stock price.[8]
License of electroporation device
In 2006, Inovio licensed "certain patented technology relating to the delivery of gene-based therapeutics into
Licence of US7328064B2
Sometime after its publication in February 2008, Inovio was assigned a patent for "an apparatus [that provides] for injecting a fluid into body tissue, the apparatus comprising: a hollow needle; and a fluid delivery means, wherein the apparatus is adapted to actuate the fluid delivery means in use so as to automatically inject fluid into body tissue during insertion of the needle into the said body tissue."[10]
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
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.[13]
Vaccine development
In a 2016
In 2016, Inovio was involved, along with their partners
In February 2020 after receiving details of the
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.[21] Inovio has partnerships to develop its COVID-19 vaccine candidate with CEPI, the South Korean National Institute of Health, and the International Vaccine Institute.[22]
Clinical research
Inovio is collaborating with Beijing Advaccine Biotechnology Co., a Chinese biotech firm,[18] 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.[4][23] Inovio has partnerships with manufacturers to scale up production of a vaccine if preliminary efficacy trials are successful.[18] 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.[4][24] In April 2021, the US Department of Defense discontinued funding of future phase III trials of INO-4800.[25] The company is planning to conduct phase III trials outside the United States.[citation needed]
On 9 July it decided to conduct phase 3 trials in partnership with Beijing based Advaccine Pharmaceutical company.[26]
In early June, Inovio partnered with the
History
Inovio was formerly known as Electrofect, which was founded in Oslo, Norway in 1999. The company was renamed to Inovio in October 2001.[28]
See also
- Coronavirus disease 2019
- COVID-19 pandemic
- Severe acute respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus
- Vaccine
- COVID-19 vaccine
- 2009 flu pandemic vaccine
References
- ^ "Home". inovio.com.
- ^ "Inovio Pharmaceuticals Revenue 2006-2021 | INO".
- ^ "Inovio Pharmaceuticals Number of Employees 2006-2021 | INO".
- ^ PMID 32273591.
- ^ a b "COVID-19 vaccine tracker (Select vaccine tab)". Airtable. 22 June 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
- ^ PMID 28446063.
- ^ a b 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.
- from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
- ^ "Inovio's License of Electroporation Intellectual Property Includes Skin Delivery Technology Used in Anthrax Collaboration". Business Wire. Berkshire Hathaway. 5 July 2006.
- ^ "Electroporation device and injection apparatus". USPTO. US7328064B2.
- ^ "Proprietary smart devices (Cellectra)". Inovio Pharmaceuticals. 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
- ^ "INOVIO Receives $71 Million Contract From U.S. Department of Defense To Scale Up Manufacture of CELLECTRA® 3PSP Smart Device and Procurement of CELLECTRA® 2000 for COVID-19 DNA Vaccine" (PDF).
- ^ Lee, Jaimy (23 June 2020). "Inovio shares jump on government funding for vaccine device". MarketWatch. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
- ^ PMID 31351922.
- PMID 27990081.
- PMID 28976850.
- S2CID 4871206.
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ Clinical trial number NCT04336410 for "Safety, Tolerability and Immunogenicity of INO-4800 for COVID-19 in Healthy Volunteers" at ClinicalTrials.gov
- ^ "Inovio's Pan-COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Can Provide Immune Responses Against Variants, Animal Study Shows". 12 May 2021.
- ^ "Plymouth Meeting's Inovio Pharmaceuticals granted $9 million to develop a vaccine for current coronavirus in China". More Than The Curve. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Mazumdar, Tulip (30 January 2020). "Coronavirus: Scientists race to develop a vaccine". BBC News - Health. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Inovio To Conduct Phase-3 Trials Of COVID-19 Vaccine Outside the US As US Govt Stops Funding".
- ^ "INOVIO Expands Partnership with Advaccine to Conduct Global Phase 3 Efficacy Trial of COVID-19 DNA Vaccine Candidate, INO-4800".
- ^ a b "IVI and SNU partner to trial Inovio Covid-19 vaccine in Korea". Clinical Trials Arena. 2020-06-05. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
- ^ "INOVIO technology that delivers". 2002-06-05. Archived from the original on 2002-06-05. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
Further reading
- "Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Common Stock (INO) News Headlines". Market Activity. Nasdaq. Retrieved 5 March 2020. Continuously updated listing of NASDAQ publications related to Inovio Pharmaceuticals, newest items first.