Benzinga | May 12, 2021 08:05AM EDT

INOVIO Reports Its Pan-COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Induces Broad Immunity Against Major Viral Variants In Preclinical Studies

INOVIO's Pan-SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate INO-4802 is not matched to a single variant, unlike other variant vaccines in development; INO-4802 could potentially offer broader immune responses

Phase 1/2 clinical trials with INO-4802 are planned this year

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., May 12, 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 that its next-generation Pan-COVID-19 vaccine candidate, INO-4802, induced potent neutralizing antibodies and T cell responses against the original Wuhan strain as well as against B.1.1.7 (UK variant), B.1.351 (South African variant) and P.1. (Brazilian variant) in preclinical models. These results demonstrate the potential of INOVIO's Pan-COVID-19 vaccine to induce cross-reactive immune responses against current and emerging viral variants as either a first-line vaccine, or potentially as a boost for individuals previously immunized with various Wuhan-matched vaccines.

Dr. Laurent M. Humeau, INOVIO's Chief Scientific Officer, said, "INOVIO is taking a dual-track approach in developing a COVID-19 vaccine because we recognize the need to support both pandemic and endemic considerations. In addition to our work on INO-4800, which we expect to enter a global Phase 3 trial this summer, we are also developing our next-generation Pan-COVID-19 variant vaccine, INO-4802, which is designed to protect against current and potentially future variants of concern. The study data we report today confirms our two-tiered development path is the best strategy for the short- and long-term fight against this virus."

First-generation COVID-19 vaccines were matched against the original Wuhan strain. These vaccines may have reduced efficacy against emerging COVID variants. In response, many of the next-generation vaccines under development are matched to a single variant currently circulating. INOVIO's Pan-COVID-19 vaccine approach is designed to provide cross-strain protection, immune coverage, reduced susceptibility to escape mutants, and non-restricted geographical use against both known and potentially unknown variants. Preclinical data with INO-4802 in multiple models revealed both broader and increased levels of neutralizing antibodies against a panel of variants than strain-matched vaccines. Building on this initial work, INOVIO plans to conduct Phase 1/2 clinical trials this year with INO-4802.

To create INOVIO's Pan-COVID-19 vaccine candidate, variant sequences were identified over a four-month period starting in October 2020 from multiple geographic regions (Brazil, Canada, India, Italy, Japan, Nigeria, South Africa, United Kingdom, and the United States). Mutations in the spike sequences were aggregated for each region. The sequence results from these regions were then further engineered to determine a common set of overlapping mutations from emerging variations in the COVID spike protein sequences to generate INO-4802.

More information from this pre-clinical study can be found in the paper entitled: "Design and immunogenicity of a Pan-SARS-CoV-2 synthetic DNA vaccine," which has been published as a preprint in BioRxiv prior to peer review.