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INOVIO Completes Enrollment of Phase 1B Clinical Trial for its DNA Vaccine Candidate Against Lassa Fever, INO-4500, in West Africa
Milestone for INO-4500 illustrates INOVIO's commitment to combatting infectious diseases Trial fully funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness
About this update from Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Milestone for INO-4500 illustrates INOVIO's commitment to combatting infectious diseases\n Trial fully funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)\n\n\nPLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., Oct. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- INOVIO (NASDAQ: INO), a biotechnology company focused on bringing to market precisely designed DNA medicines to treat and protect people from infectious diseases, cancer, and HPV-associated diseases, today announced its Phase 1B clinical trial for INO-4500, its DNA vaccine candidate for Lassa fever, completed full enrollment of 220 participants. This trial (LSV-002 - NCT04093076) is ongoing at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in Accra, Ghana, and is the first vaccine clinical trial for Lassa fever conducted in West Africa, where the viral illness is endemic.\nINOVIO is advancing INO-4500 with full funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a global partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil society organizations to stimulate and accelerate the development of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases and enable access to these vaccines for people in need during outbreaks. The company was awarded up to US $56 million from CEPI in 2018 under which INOVIO is advancing vaccine candidates against Lassa fever and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). INOVIO and CEPI plan to establish a stockpile of these vaccines for emergency use after Phase 2 testing, if successful. As part of CEPI's $3.5 billion plan to reduce, or even eradicate, the risk of epidemics and pandemics, CEPI's goal is to get a licensed Lassa vaccine for use in endemic countries. The forward-looking strategy also includes the aim to advance clinical trial capacity, infrastructure, and expertise in low- and middle-income countries.\nDr. Laurent Humeau, INOVIO's Chief Scientific Officer, said, \"Completing enrollment of LSV-002 is an important milestone for the clinical development of INO-4500, our DNA vaccine candidate against Lassa fever. INOVIO and our partners are committed to addressing this significant unmet public health need, considering the prevalence of the Lassa virus, the potential severity of Lassa fever, and the lack of any licensed vaccines or other treatments for this disease. We are grateful to CEPI for their support as we work with our partners to advance ...