PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa.,
Dec. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Inovio
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: INO) announced today the appointment
of Zane Yang, M.D. as Vice
President, Clinical Development, Oncology. In this position, he
will be responsible for advancing Inovio's oncology portfolio of
DNA immunotherapies through clinical trials to commercialization.
He will report to Dr. Mark
Bagarazzi, Inovio's Chief Medical Officer.
Inovio is planning a phase III trial for its immunotherapy for a
pre-cancer, known as cervical dysplasia, which met its endpoints in
a recent phase II trial. The company is in or about to move into
phase I trials for numerous cancers including prostate, cervical,
breast, lung, head and neck and pancreatic
cancers.
Dr. Yang joins Inovio from Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a unit of
Johnson & Johnson, where he was Director, Oncology Medical
Affairs in the U.S. Dr. Yang led the prostate cancer and solid
tumor therapeutic area including development and commercialization
of Zytiga®, for the treatment of metastatic
castration-resistant prostate cancer. Prior to Janssen, he was
Director of Global Medical Affairs and Clinical Development at
Novartis Oncology, and Director of Clinical Development at Merck
& Co.
Dr. J. Joseph Kim, President
& CEO of Inovio, said, "Zane is a highly regarded and
accomplished executive and clinical researcher whose experience in
the global cancer market makes him exceptionally qualified to lead
clinical development in oncology at Inovio. There's a new wave of
cancer therapeutics coming, products that enhance the body's immune
system to fight and prevent cancer. Inovio is proud to be a leader
in this new paradigm of products and Dr. Yang's leadership will
play a critical role as we move forward."
Dr. Yang, who earned his M.D. at Beijing Medical University, was
a Fellow at Emory University's Winship
Cancer Institute and the Wistar Institute. Before transitioning to
the pharmaceutical industry he was an associate professor at the
University of Virginia Medical
Center.
About Inovio's Cancer Immunotherapies
Inovio's DNA-based immunotherapy technology uniquely activates
highly potent antigen-specific killer T cells targeting a specific
cancer in the body. The company's technology provides the most
natural interaction with the immune system next to an actual
infection, therefore the activated therapeutic response remains
controlled by the immune system and has to date not triggered
unwanted inflammatory responses. These are ideal characteristics of
an immuno-oncology product. The immune system uses the same weapons
to fight precancerous and cancerous cells – sometimes the immune
system simply requires assistance to mount an effective immune
response. Inovio achieved an industry first with clinically
significant efficacy shown with its VGX-3100 HPV immunotherapy in a
phase II study of cervical precancer. Inovio is now advancing
multiple clinical and R&D stage active immunotherapies with the
potential to address the full spectrum of precancers and
cancers.
About Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Inovio is revolutionizing the fight against cancer and
infectious diseases. Our immunotherapies uniquely activate
best-in-class immune responses to prevent and treat disease, and
have shown clinically significant efficacy with a favorable safety
profile. With an expanding portfolio of immune therapies, the
company is advancing a growing preclinical and clinical stage
product pipeline. Partners and collaborators include Roche,
MedImmune, University of Pennsylvania,
DARPA, Drexel University, NIH, HIV
Vaccines Trial Network, National Cancer Institute, U.S. Military
HIV Research Program, and University of
Manitoba. For more information, visit www.inovio.com.
CONTACTS:
Investors:
Bernie Hertel, Inovio
Pharmaceuticals, 858-410-3101, bhertel@inovio.com
Media: Jeff Richardson, Inovio
Pharmaceuticals, 267-440-4211,
jrichardson@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, our expectations regarding our research and development
programs 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, including safety and efficacy for VGX-3100, 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,
our ability to support our broad pipeline of SynCon® active immune
therapy and vaccine products, our ability to advance our portfolio
of immune-oncology products independently, including INO-5150, and
to commence a phase I clinical trial for INO-5150 in the first half
of 2015, 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, our ability to enter into
partnerships in conjunction with our research and development
programs, 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, 2013, our Form 10-Q for the quarter
ended September 30, 2014, 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.
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SOURCE Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.