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Inovio Biomedical Receives Additional Milestone Payment From Merck Relating to Electroporation Delivery System for DNA Vaccines

Posted on: Wednesday, 12 December 2007, 06:00 CST

Inovio Biomedical Corporation (AMEX:INO), a leader in enabling the development of DNA vaccines using electroporation-based DNA delivery, announced today it will receive a $2 million milestone payment from Merck & Co., Inc. resulting from the filing of a second Investigational New Drug application to the US Food & Drug Administration by Merck for a DNA-based vaccine using Inovio's MedPulser® DNA Delivery System. The milestone relates to Inovio's collaboration and license with Merck initiated in May 2004 for the development of certain DNA vaccines. Further development of the product may lead to additional milestone payments and royalties to Inovio.

Inovio will receive this milestone payment for its contribution to the collaboration, which has so far demonstrated the high level of gene delivery and expression that is thought to be necessary for the induction of a therapeutic immune response. Merck has funded all clinical development costs of this candidate to date.

"This is the second investigational DNA-based vaccine that Merck has advanced into clinical studies using Inovio's proprietary electroporation delivery technology," said Avtar Dhillon, MD, Inovio's president and CEO. "Achievement of this milestone demonstrates Inovio's ability to collaborate with large pharma partners to add value to their DNA-based vaccine programs."

About Inovio's DNA Vaccine Technology

DNA vaccines have the potential to bypass inherent scientific obstacles of conventional vaccines that prevent their development for cancer and chronic infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C. Pre-clinical data has indicated the ability of Inovio's technologies to effectively deliver and significantly enhance the potency of such immunotherapies without the potential safety concerns of viral delivery systems.

Inovio's DNA-based immunotherapy products consist of DNA plasmids and electroporation-based DNA delivery systems. DNA plasmids are designed to express (produce) antigens that can induce an immune response specific to a cancer or infectious disease-causing organism. These plasmids are created synthetically and readily manufactured using well-established bacterial fermentation and purification technology. After a plasmid is delivered into muscle or tumor cells, production of the desired antigens may induce a preventive or therapeutic immune response against the intended disease. Inovio's advanced electroporation devices facilitate delivery and expression of DNA vaccines to produce the desired antigens. Non-human primate and/or interim Phase I data delivered using Inovio's DNA delivery systems have shown significantly enhanced antibody and T-cell immune responses relative to plasmid DNA delivered by other methods, suggesting the potential to provide better preventive or therapeutic effects against complex infectious diseases and cancers.

Inovio is able to deliver advanced DNA-based vaccines and immunotherapies, devices and know-how in this rapidly advancing field. The company is actively licensing its technology to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and supporting early stage clinical studies arising from its own research efforts or through academic collaborations.

About Inovio Biomedical Corporation

Inovio Biomedical (AMEX:INO) is focused on developing multiple DNA-based immunotherapies. Inovio is a leader in developing human applications of electroporation, using brief, controlled electrical pulses to increase cellular uptake of a useful biopharmaceutical. Interim human data has shown that Inovio's DNA delivery technology can significantly increase gene expression and immune responses from DNA vaccines. Immunotherapy partners include Merck, Wyeth, Vical, University of Southampton, Moffitt Cancer Center, the U.S. Army, National Cancer Institute, and International Aids Vaccine Initiative. Inovio's technology is protected by an extensive patent portfolio covering in vivo electroporation. More information is available at www.inovio.com.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to our plans to develop our electroporation drug and gene delivery technology. Actual events or results may differ from our expectations as a result of a number of factors, including the uncertainties inherent in clinical trials and product development programs (including, but not limited to, the fact that pre-clinical results referenced in this release may not be indicative of results achievable from testing in humans and that results from one study may necessarily not be reflected or supported by the results of other similar studies), the availability of funding to support continuing research and studies in an effort to prove safety and efficacy of Inovio's technology as a delivery mechanism, the availability or potential availability of alternative therapies or treatments for the conditions targeted by Inovio or its collaborators, including alternatives that may be more efficacious or cost-effective than any therapy or treatment that Inovio and its collaborators hope to develop, evaluation of potential opportunities, issues involving patents and whether they or licenses to them will provide Inovio 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 Inovio can finance or devote other significant resources that may be necessary to prosecute, protect or defend them, the level of corporate expenditures, assessments of our technology by potential corporate or other partners or collaborators, capital market conditions, and other factors set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, our 10-Q for the nine months ended September 30, 2007, and other regulatory filings. There can be no assurance that any product in our product pipeline will be successfully developed or manufactured, or that final results of clinical studies will be supportive of regulatory approvals required to market licensed products.

Source: Business Wire

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