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Inovio and QIAGEN Establish Collaboration to Develop Diagnostic Test for VGX-3100, Inovio's Novel Immunotherapy Targeting Advanced Cervical Pre-Cancer
PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. and GERMANTOWN, Md. and HILDEN, Germany, May 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: INO) and QIAGEN N.V. (NYSE:
About this update from Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. and GERMANTOWN, Md. and HILDEN, Germany, May 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: INO) and QIAGEN N.V. (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced a collaboration to co-develop a diagnostic test to identify patients most likely to respond to VGX-3100, Inovio's immunotherapy to treat advanced cervical dysplasia associated with the human papillomavirus virus (HPV). This precision medicine partnership focuses on Inovio's VGX-3100, a late-stage product candidate currently in two pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials (REVEAL 1 and 2) with potential to become the first treatment for HPV infection of the cervix and the first non-surgical treatment for precancerous cervical lesions associated with the virus. Financial arrangements were not disclosed.\nDr. J. Joseph Kim, Inovio's President & CEO, said, \"As we advance our Synthetic Nucleics platform we are always looking for ways to drive innovation within our own technology or via a creative partner like QIAGEN. QIAGEN is bringing their extensive track record of commercially developing and marketing novel diagnostic tests to this important collaboration. Inovio is developing VGX-3100 as a non-surgical treatment for women with cervical pre-cancer and pre-treatment biomarkers we have discovered could provide a targeted way to identify patients most likely to respond to treatment with VGX-3100, increasing absolute efficacy of the product.\"\n\"We are pleased to support Inovio by developing a liquid biopsy-based companion diagnostic to identify patients who would benefit from VGX-3100, which has potential to make a dramatic difference in the treatment of HPV infections and precancerous disease. Our Sample to Insight workflows and experience in developing diagnostic solutions for Precision Medicine in immuno-oncology are well-suited to help Inovio address this large unmet medical need,\" said Peer M. Schatz, Chief Executive Officer of QIAGEN. \"Our team has deep experience in HPV-related molecular testing and cervical cancer and is looking forward to applying this expertise in partnership with Inovio, This project is also a case study of a collaboration that started in the discovery phase, when Inovio selected QIAGEN Genomic Services to work on the discovery of novel microRNA biomarkers that now contribute to the power of this uniq...