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Inovio Biomedical's DNA Delivery Technology for Immunotherapy to Be Presented at Drug Delivery Conference

Posted on: Thursday, 5 April 2007, 06:00 CDT

Inovio Biomedical Corp. (AMEX:INO), which is focused on the development of DNA-based immunotherapy products and a novel tumor ablation therapy, announced today that its Executive Director of Corporate Development, Dr. Michael Fons, will present new developments in Inovio's DNA immunotherapy programs at the Arrowhead Drug Delivery 2007 conference to be held April 9 to 11 at the Crowne Plaza Union Square in San Francisco, CA. Dr. Fons' presentation will cover key aspects of non-viral DNA delivery via electroporation of four different partnered immunotherapy products that are currently in clinical evaluation for cancers including prostate, breast, ovarian, colorectal, melanoma and small cell lung cancer. The presentation will reference pre-clinical studies demonstrating safety and efficacy in animal models of cancer and infectious diseases and highlights of the regulatory approach used to permit clinical evaluation of these novel drug-device combination therapeutic products.

"Our DNA-based immunotherapy programs have gained enormous momentum over the past year," stated Avtar Dhillon, MD, president and CEO of Inovio. "We believe we are on the verge of obtaining clinical data to validate the tremendous potential previously demonstrated in animal models of DNA-based immunotherapies delivered using Inovio's DNA delivery solution. We look forward to a number of exciting developments in immunotherapy development programs using our proprietary electroporation technology over the coming years."

About Inovio's DNA Delivery Technology

DNA-based immunotherapy products have the potential to by-pass scientific obstacles inherent in the development of conventional vaccines. For example, DNA-based immunotherapies may be better in stimulating cellular immunity necessary to fight chronic infection or diseases such as cancer. Despite this promise, vaccination using DNA plasmid alone, without enhanced delivery, has not been shown to reach the threshold for clinical benefit.

Intramuscular delivery of DNA-based immunotherapy products using Inovio's proprietary electroporation technology has been shown in primate studies to boost the immune response by orders of magnitude over DNA plasmid alone. Plasmid-based immunotherapy products induced higher levels of antibodies and T-cell responses when delivered via electroporation, suggesting the potential to provide protection from infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C.

About Inovio Biomedical Corporation

Inovio Biomedical (AMEX:INO) is focused on commercializing its Selective Electrochemical Tumor Ablation (SECTA) therapy and development of multiple DNA-based immunotherapies using its delivery platform for gene-based treatments. SECTA is a local ablation therapy for solid tumors designed to selectively kill cancerous cells and minimize cosmetic or functional impacts to predominantly healthy tissue typically treated around a tumor. Inovio is moving its lead product, the MedPulser®, through pre-marketing studies for head & neck and skin cancers in Europe, where it has CE Mark accreditation, a U.S. Phase III pivotal study for head and neck cancer, and a Phase I/II trial for breast cancer. Inovio's DNA delivery partners include Merck, Wyeth, Vical, University of Southampton, Moffitt Cancer Center, and the U.S. Army, with four DNA-based immunotherapies in Phase I clinical studies. Inovio is a leader in developing human therapeutic applications of electroporation, which uses brief, controlled electrical pulses to increase both cellular uptake of a useful biopharmaceutical and, in the case of gene-based treatments, levels of gene expression. Inovio has the most 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), 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 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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