Disclaimer: I am long INO

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., May 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- INOVIO (NASDAQ:INO) today announced the publication of the preclinical study data for IN0-4800, its COVID-19 DNA vaccine, demonstrating robust neutralizing antibody and T cell immune responses against coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications titled, "Immunogenicity of a DNA vaccine candidate for COVID-19" by INOVIO scientists and collaborators from The Wistar Institute, the University of Texas, Public Health England, Fudan University, and Advaccine.

Dr. Kate Broderick, INOVIO's Senior Vice President of R&D and the Team Lead for COVID-19 vaccine development, said, "These positive preclinical results from our COVID-19 DNA vaccine (INO-4800) not only highlight the potency of our DNA medicines platform, but also build on our previously reported positive Phase 1/2a data from our vaccine against the coronavirus that causes MERS, which demonstrated near-100% seroconversion and neutralization from a similarly designed vaccine INO-4700. The potent neutralizing antibody and T cell immune responses generated in multiple animal models are supportive of our currently on-going INO-4800 clinical trials."

INO-4800 targets the major surface antigen Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19 disease. The studies demonstrated that vaccination with INO-4800 generated robust binding and neutralizing antibody as well as T cell responses in mice and guinea pigs. Importantly, the authors demonstrated virus neutralizing activity using three separate neutralization assays testing the vaccine's ability to generate antibodies which can block virus infection by: 1) an assay using live SARS-CoV-2 viruses; 2) an assay using a pseudo-virus assay, where another virus displays the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein; and, 3) a novel high-throughput surrogate neutralization assay measuring the ability of INO-4800-induced antibodies to block SARS-CoV-2 Spike binding to the host ACE2 receptor. Study authors also detected these antibodies in the lungs of the vaccinated animals which could be important in providing protection from SARS-CoV-2. In addition, high levels of Spike-specific T cell responses were observed with INO-4800 vaccination, which could be important in mediating protection from the virus infection. Collectively, this preclinical dataset demonstrates that INO-4800 is a promising COVID-19 vaccine candidate against this emerging disease threat.