Inovio Biomedical Corporation (AMEX:INO), a leader in enabling the development of DNA vaccines using electroporation-based DNA delivery, announced today the publication of data from preclinical studies performed in collaboration with scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), which demonstrated a 77-fold increase in dendritic cells at the site of administration of a DNA vaccine delivered with electroporation compared to a similar amount of DNA delivered using a DNA injection alone. The paper, "Recruitment of Antigen-Presenting Cells to the Site of Inoculation and Augmentation of HIV-1 DNA Vaccine Immunogenicity by In Vivo Electroporation, was published online ahead of print at the Journal's web site http://jvi.asm.org/ on March 19, 2008. This result suggests that electroporation provides a strong adjuvant effect capable of priming the immune system, partially explaining the apparent enhancement that electroporation has provided in enhancing the potency of DNA vaccines in humans.
Research has shown that priming of the immune system is often required to enhance the immune system's response to a vaccine, and adjuvants capable of playing this role have been used for decades in conjunction with conventional vaccines. With respect to DNA vaccines, the observation that there are often a limited number of dendritic cells, or professional antigen-presenting cells, at the site of DNA vaccine administration has also led to the exploration and use of adjuvants to enhance the immunogenicity (potency) of DNA vaccines. This BIDMC study used an experimental HIV DNA vaccine to test the quality and quantity of immune cells recruited to the site of DNA delivery after delivery with and without the company's proprietary electroporation technology. Using conditions similar to those currently being evaluated in clinical trials, the researchers showed that electroporation increased numbers of antigen-presenting cells at the site of administration that correlated with increases in antibody titers and T-cell responses to the encoded antigen.
"These data clearly demonstrate the capacity of electroporation to function as an adjuvant for DNA vaccines, which translates into more robust immune responses than can be induced by conventional delivery with a needle and syringe, noted Dan H. Barouch, MD, PhD, a scientist in the Division of Viral Pathogenesis at BIDMC and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School who led these studies.
Avtar Dhillon, MD, president and CEO of Inovio, said: "These mechanism-of-action studies conducted at BIDMC provide valuable insight into the role played by electroporation and confirm and partially explain the immune enhancement demonstrated in our ongoing clinical studies.
About Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) is a patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and consistently ranks among the top four in National Institutes of Health funding among independent hospitals nationwide. BIDMC is clinically affiliated with the Joslin Diabetes Center and is a research partner of Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. For more information, visit www.bidmc.harvard.edu.
About Inovio Biomedical Corporation
Inovio Biomedical (AMEX: INO) is focused on developing multiple DNA-based immunotherapies and DNA vaccines. Inovio is a leader in developing human applications of electroporation using brief, controlled electrical pulses to increase cellular uptake of a useful biopharmaceutical. Human data has shown that Inovio's electroporation-based DNA delivery technology can significantly increase gene expression and immune responses from DNA vaccines. Immunotherapy partners include Merck, Wyeth, Vical, University of Southampton, Moffitt Cancer Center, the U.S. Army, National Cancer Institute, and International Aids Vaccine Initiative. Inovio's technology is protected by an extensive patent portfolio covering in vivo electroporation. More information is available at www.inovio.com.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to our plans to develop our electroporation drug and gene delivery technology. Actual events or results may differ from our expectations as a result of a number of factors, including the uncertainties inherent in clinical trials and product development programs (including, but not limited to, the fact that pre-clinical results referenced in this release may not be indicative of results achievable in other trials or for other indications and that results from one study may necessarily not be reflected or supported by the results of other similar studies or our clinical studies), the availability of funding to support continuing research and studies in an effort to prove safety and efficacy of Inovio's technology as a delivery mechanism, the availability or potential availability of alternative therapies or treatments for the conditions targeted by Inovio or its collaborators, including alternatives that may be more efficacious or cost-effective than any therapy or treatment that Inovio and its collaborators hope to develop, evaluation of potential opportunities, issues involving patents and whether they or licenses to them will provide Inovio 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 Inovio can finance or devote other significant resources that may be necessary to prosecute, protect or defend them, the level of corporate expenditures, assessments of our technology by potential corporate or other partners or collaborators, capital market conditions, and other factors set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, and other regulatory filings from time to time. There can be no assurance that any product in our product 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 proved accurate.
