Inovio Pharmaceuticals CEO Appointed to International Vaccine Institute Board of Trustees

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Nov 19, 2013, 04:00 ET

BLUE BELL, Pa., Nov. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE MKT: INO) reported that the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) appointed Inovio's President and CEO, Dr. J. Joseph Kim, to the IVI Board of Trustees where he will serve a three-year term to oversee the governance and management of the institute. Internationally recognized vaccine experts Professor Fred Binka and Dr. George R. Siber were also named to the board today. The International Vaccine Institute is the world's only international organization devoted exclusively to developing and introducing new and improved vaccines to protect the world's poorest people, especially children in developing countries.

"The new members bring scientific, industrial, and global health expertise that will boost IVI's ability to make an impact in improving the health of the most impoverished," said Dr. Christian Loucq, IVI's Director General. He added, "IVI has undergone several changes to strengthen its governance and management, and to increase transparency. We look forward to capitalizing on the experience and knowledge they bring as we continue to evolve as an institute."

"I am honored to be selected to serve this world class institute. I will bring a sense of urgency to my work with IVI to advance its critical mission for improving human health, especially for impoverished children," said Dr. J. Joseph Kim, Inovio's President and CEO.

Dr. Kim is an internationally recognized leader in vaccines. He holds a PhD in immunology from the University of Pennsylvania, an MBA in Finance from Wharton, as well as dual undergraduate degrees from MIT. As a founder and CEO of Inovio Pharmaceuticals, he led the company's focus on developing prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines for both developed markets and developing-world markets. Dr. Kim has a strong background in both health and public policy including serving as a member of the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders as a member for WEF's Global Agenda Council on Korea.

About IVI
Established in 1997, IVI operates as an independent international organization under a treaty signed by 35 countries and the World Health Organization. The Institute conducts research in more than 20 countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America on vaccines against enteric and diarrheal infections, Japanese encephalitis, and dengue fever, and develops new and improved vaccines at its headquarters in Seoul, Republic of Korea. For more information, please visit www.ivi.int.

About Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Inovio is revolutionizing vaccines to prevent and treat today's cancers and challenging infectious diseases. Its SynCon® vaccines, in combination with its proprietary electroporation delivery, are generating best-in-class immune responses, with therapeutic T-cell responses exceeding other technologies in terms of magnitude, breadth, and response rate. Human data to date have shown a favorable safety profile. Inovio's lead vaccine, a therapeutic against HPV-caused pre-cancers and cancers, is in phase II. Other phase I and preclinical programs target prostate, breast, and lung cancers as well as HIV, influenza, malaria and hepatitis. Partners and collaborators include Roche, the University of Pennsylvania, Merck, NIH, HIV Vaccines Trial Network, National Cancer Institute, U.S. Military HIV Research Program, University of Southampton, US Dept. of Homeland Security, University of Manitoba 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 pre-clinical studies and clinical trials may not commence or be completed in the time periods anticipated, 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, 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, 2012, our Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2013, 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, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, 267-440-4211, [email protected]