Inovio Pharmaceuticals Adds Two Medical Innovators to Its Scientific Advisory Board

Prominent experts will guide DNA vaccines into advanced clinical stages

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Sep 06, 2011, 04:00 ET

BLUE BELL, Pa., Sept. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE Amex: INO), a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, has expanded its scientific advisory board with the appointment of two prominent leaders in the fields of vaccines and cancer immunotherapeutics. Joining Inovio's advisory board are Dr. Thomas S. Edgington, Emeritus Professor of the Scripps Research Institute and founder of several biotechnology companies; and Dr. Philip D. Greenberg, Professor of Medicine (Oncology) and Immunology, Department of Medicine, University of Washington.

Dr. Thomas S. Edgington is an emeritus professor of the Scripps Research Institute. Dr. Edgington served as the president and a board member of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). He was founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Corvas International, Inc., which was acquired by Dendreon. Dr. Edgington also founded Molecular Biology Consultants Inc., BioSequences Ltd. and NuVas LLC. He served as a director of Apollon, one of the earliest DNA vaccine companies, which was acquired by Wyeth. He served as a member of the scientific advisory board of Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. Dr. Edgington is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine. He has over 500 publications in the biomedical sciences and filed over 25 patents.

Dr. Philip D. Greenberg is Professor of Medicine (Oncology) and Immunology, Department of Medicine, University of Washington and heads the Program in Immunology at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Dr. Greenberg has had a long-standing research career elucidating the principles that underlie T-cell recognition of viruses and cancer cells, determining why such responses often fail to eliminate the viral pathogen or cancer, and developing cellular and molecular approaches to manipulate cellular immunity to treat human viral and malignant diseases. His current research includes studies in transgenic mice to elucidate the requirements for inducing therapeutically effective T-cell responses to self-proteins that are overexpressed in tumors, development of genetically-modified mice to better model human immune responses to facilitate the development of vaccines for HIV and cancer, genetic modification of T cells to improve efficacy in adoptive therapy, and clinical trials for the treatment of leukemia with adoptive T-cell therapy.

Dr. Edgington said, "Inovio's DNA vaccine technology has displayed in humans the ability to induce immune responses, including T cell responses that are vital to therapeutic vaccines, which are equivalent to live virus vaccines and superior to other non-live vaccine platforms. I believe this next-generation technology has the potential to provide profound medical benefits, and I am pleased to help guide Inovio's scientific team as it continues to target difficult diseases and advance new preventive and therapeutic vaccines."

Dr. J. Joseph Kim, Inovio's president and CEO, said, "Conventional vaccines brought revolutionary benefits to modern medicine and we believe that Inovio's synthetic vaccine technology can provide similar benefits to society by addressing many cancers and difficult infectious diseases. Drs. Edgington and Greenberg share our vision and we are honored to have these two renowned medical research leaders join us in this important endeavor."

These researchers join other distinguished thought leaders on Inovio's advisory board:

Dr. David B. Weiner, Chairman, Scientific Advisory Board, Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Professor, Dept. of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, is a world-renowned leader in immunology as well as gene vaccines and therapy. He is often recognized as the "Father of DNA Vaccines" for his early work in their development. Dr. Weiner was a co-founder of VGX Pharmaceuticals, which merged with Inovio Pharmaceuticals in June 2009.

Dr. Iacob Mathiesen has been a pioneer in the advancement of novel electroporation methods and devices for DNA delivery. He co-founded a research and development company in Norway to pursue advancements in the field of electroporation-based DNA delivery and was successful in securing pivotal patents, developing leading edge devices, and securing strategic partnerships.

Dr. Stanley A. Plotkin, Emeritus Professor, Wistar Institute and University of Pennsylvania, developed the rubella vaccine now used worldwide and has worked extensively on the development and application of other vaccines including polio, rabies, varicella, rotavirus and cytomegalovirus. He has served as senior assistant surgeon with the Epidemic Intelligence Service, U.S. Public Health Service; director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; and medical and scientific director of Aventis Pasteur.

About Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Inovio is developing a new generation of vaccines, called DNA vaccines, to treat and prevent cancers and infectious diseases. Its SynCon® vaccines are designed to provide broad cross-strain protection against known as well as newly emergent unmatched strains of pathogens such as influenza. These vaccines, in combination with Inovio's proprietary electroporation delivery devices, have been shown in humans to be safe and generate best-in-class immune responses. Inovio's clinical programs include Phase II studies for cervical dysplasia/cancer, leukemia and hepatitis C virus and Phase I studies for influenza and HIV. Partners and collaborators include the University of Pennsylvania, Merck, ChronTech, National Cancer Institute, U.S. Military HIV Research Program, NIH, HIV Vaccines Trial Network, University of Southampton, and PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative. More information is available at www.inovio.com.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to our business, including our plans to develop electroporation-based drug and gene delivery technologies and DNA vaccines and our capital resources. Actual events or results may differ from the expectations set forth herein as a result of a number of factors, including uncertainties inherent in pre-clinical studies, clinical trials and product development programs (including, but not limited to, the fact that pre-clinical and clinical results referenced in this release may not be indicative of results achievable in other trials or for other indications, that the studies or trials may not be successful or achieve the results desired, that results from one study may not necessarily be reflected or supported by the results of other similar studies and that results from an animal study may not be indicative of results achievable in human studies), the availability of funding to support continuing research and studies in an effort to prove safety and efficacy of electroporation technology as a delivery mechanism or develop viable DNA vaccines, the adequacy of our capital resources, the availability or potential availability of alternative therapies or treatments for the conditions targeted by the company or its collaborators, including alternatives that may be more efficacious or cost-effective than any therapy or treatment that the company and its collaborators hope to develop, evaluation of potential opportunities, issues involving product liability, issues involving patents and whether they or licenses to them will provide the company with meaningful protection from others using the covered technologies, whether such proprietary rights are enforceable or defensible or infringe or allegedly infringe on rights of others or can withstand claims of invalidity and whether the company can finance or devote other significant resources that may be necessary to prosecute, protect or defend them, the level of corporate expenditures, assessments of the company's technology by potential corporate or other partners or collaborators, capital market conditions, our ability to successfully integrate Inovio and VGX Pharmaceuticals, the impact of government healthcare proposals and other factors set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, our Form 10-Q for the three months ended June 30, 2011, and other regulatory filings from time to time. There can be no assurance that any product in Inovio's pipeline will be successfully developed or manufactured, that final results of clinical studies will be supportive of regulatory approvals required to market licensed products, or that any of the forward-looking information provided herein will be proven accurate.

CONTACTS:
Investors: Bernie Hertel, Inovio Pharmaceuticals 858-410-3101 [email protected]
Media: Jeff Richardson, Richardson & Associates 805-491-8313 [email protected]

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SOURCE Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.