Inovio's experimental vaccine against COVID-19 shows encouraging results in preliminary trial

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, a US biotech firm, on Tuesday reported that its experimental vaccine against the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has shown encouraging results in a small preliminary trial.

According to TimesNow News, the firm claimed that its INO-4800, a DNA vaccine against COVID-19, triggered an immune response in 94 per cent of volunteers who completed the phase 1 clinical trial.

Inovio now plans to initiate a Phase 2/3 trial to assess the efficacy of the vaccine this summer upon regulatory concurrence.

In a press release, Inovio also said that its INO-4800 has been selected to participate in a non-human primate (NHP) challenge study as part of the US government’s Operation Warp Speed, a new national program aiming to produce hundreds of millions of safe, effective doses of the vaccine for Americans by January 2021.

The firm has expanded its Phase 1 trial to add older participants in additional cohorts. Inovio’s INO-4800 vaccine was designed rapidly to precisely match the DNA sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19.

Results from the trial showed that the INO-4800 COVID-19 vaccine was generally safe and well-tolerated in all participants in both cohorts through week 8. As per the company, no serious adverse events (SAEs) were reported and all 10 participants who experienced adverse events (AEs) were grade 1 in severity, and most were local injection site redness.

Inovio’s INO-4800 has also been shown to protect mice in the new coronavirus viral challenge studies, where vaccination with the jab prevented viral replication in the lungs of animals challenged with SARS-CoV-2.