Benzinga | Feb 24, 2021 07:26AM EST

Qiagen, Inovio In Development Pact For VGX-3100 Companion Diagnostics

* Qiagen NV (NYSE: QGEN) and Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: INO) expanded their partnership with a new master collaboration agreement to develop liquid biopsy-based companion diagnostic products using next-generation sequencing technology to complement Inovio's therapies.

* The initial project in this expanded collaboration focuses on the co-development of a diagnostic test that identifies women who are most likely to benefit from the clinical use of VGX-3100, INO's immunotherapy, to treat advanced cervical dysplasia associated with the human papillomavirus (HPV).

* VGX-3100 is currently in two Phase 3 trials (REVEAL 1 and REVEAL 2) as a non-surgical treatment for advanced precancerous cervical lesions associated with HPV-16 and HPV-18.

* Last month, the company announced that VGX-3100 showed positive efficacy in the Phase 2 Vulvar Dysplasia study. 25% or more reduction in HPV-16/18-associated vulvar lesions was observed for 63% of trial participants at six months post-treatment.

* In Phase 2 Anal Dysplasia study, VGX-3100 showed resolution of precancerous anal lesions in 50% (11 of 22) of subjects six months following the start of treatment.

* Price Action: INO is up 4.3% at $12.18, while QGEN is down 2.75% at $51.97 in premarket trading on the last check Wednesday.