Inovio to collaborate with research centers on DNA vaccine

Inovio’s DNA delivery systems are designed with the aim of enhancing the potency of DNA-based immunotherapies and vaccines against infectious diseases and cancers. The collaboration with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is being conducted under a Cooperative R&D Agreement and will assess novel HIV constructs in non-human primates, cytokine genes as vaccine adjuvants (immune system stimulants), and possibly anticancer therapies delivered using Inovio’s electroporation-mediated DNA delivery technology.

Inovio’s collaboration with International Aids Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) will focus on optimizing HIV vaccine design. Experimental HIV vaccines will be screened in preclinical models to select the most efficacious design to advance to clinical testing.

Avtar Dhillon, Inovio’s CEO, said: “Inovio continues to expand its partnerships with leading corporate, academic and governmental organizations interested in developing gene-based vaccines. We are encouraged that renowned medical organizations like the NCI and IAVI have recognized the potentially enabling capabilities of our DNA delivery technology and chosen to collaborate with us in these medically significant disease areas.”