Business
IVI, INOVIO, and KNIH to Partner with CEPI in Phase 1/2 Clinical Trial of INOVIO's COVID-19 DNA Vaccine in South Korea
- The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) grants $6.9 million funding to INOVIO and IVI to conduct clinical testing in Korea for INOVIO's
About this update from Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"- The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) grants $6.9 million funding to INOVIO and IVI to conduct clinical testing in Korea for INOVIO's COVID-19 vaccine candidate based on their well-established DNA platform technology\n - Korea National Institute of Health (KNIH) to support IVI's testing efforts\n\n\nPLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. and SEOUL, South Korea, April 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) announced today that the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has granted $6.9 million funding to INOVIO (NASDAQ:INO) to work with IVI and the Korea National Institute of Health (KNIH) for a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of INOVIO's COVID-19 vaccine candidate (INO-4800) in South Korea. IVI will conduct the trial in parallel to INOVIO's Phase 1 INO-4800 study currently underway in the US since April 6, 2020 with 40 healthy adults receiving the vaccine candidate and eventually expanding to older adults.\nDr. Jerome H. Kim, Director General of IVI, said, \"Vaccines are the long-term solution to controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid global response to developing vaccine candidates has been a profound demonstration of governments, industry, and the scientific community coming together to confront a common crisis, and we're looking forward to accelerating one of those candidates through clinical testing. IVI has achieved promising trial results with INOVIO's DNA vaccine platform in the past, and we're pleased to partner again to test the safety and immunogenicity of an urgently needed COVID-19 vaccine.\"\nDr. J. Joseph Kim, INOVIO's President and CEO, said, \"Developing a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine is a global imperative, and we're pleased to partner with IVI and KNIH to test INO-4800 in South Korea. Our DNA vaccine platform was one of the first technologies to receive support from CEPI to accelerate a COVID-19 vaccine, and IVI conducting safety and efficacy trials in South Korea is a crucial step forward in evaluating this vaccine.\"\nDr. Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI said, \"Developing a safe and effective vaccine and ensuring its global supply is our best exit strategy from the COVID-19 pandemic. CEPI is pleased to work with INOVIO and IVI in this critical next stage of testing.\" \nINOVIO's DNA vaccine platform is also utilized in their MERS vaccine, INO-4700, for whi...