- Changes expected to reduce operational expenses and extend the
company's cash runway into third quarter of 2024
- Improving cost structure will allow company to focus on
strategic priorities, including heterologous boost strategy for
COVID-19 vaccine candidate and HPV programs
PLYMOUTH
MEETING, Pa., July 19,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- INOVIO (NASDAQ: INO), a
biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing DNA
medicines to help protect people from infectious diseases and treat
people with cancer and HPV-associated diseases, announced that it
has implemented a corporate reorganization designed to extend its
cash runway and to focus on key clinical programs with the goal to
drive long-term growth.
The reorganization, which includes an 18% workforce reduction in
full-time employees and 86% reduction in contractors, along with
other cost-saving measures, is expected to reduce operating
expenses by approximately 30% over the next 18 months and will
extend the Company's cash runway into the third quarter of 2024.
These projections do not include any funds that may or may not be
raised during the time period through the Company's existing ATM or
other fundraising mechanisms. INOVIO expects a one-time
restructuring charge of approximately $1.6
million in the third quarter of 2022.
"The organizational adjustments we've announced today underpin
our strategy to realize the promise of DNA medicines and better
position INOVIO for future growth," said Dr. Jacqueline Shea, Chief Executive Officer. "By
driving operational efficiencies throughout our organization, we
are focused on advancing our lead pipeline candidates toward
commercialization and optimizing our chances of success."
INOVIO's lead programs include its heterologous boost strategy
for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, INO-4800, and its HPV-targeted
programs. INOVIO expects to have data readouts from key studies
that will further inform the strategic development of these leading
DNA medicine assets later this year.
Dr. Shea continued: "While we focus on near-term catalysts, we
are also dedicated to improving our prioritization processes in
developing our entire R&D pipeline to maximize our ability to
deliver innovative products to patients around the globe over the
longer term."
INOVIO's DNA technology pipeline includes a number of other
clinical-stage product candidates focused on infectious diseases
and immuno-oncology. This reorganization is aligned with the
previously announced strategic changes for the INO-4800 development
program to focus on the heterologous boost indication, as well as
the development path and timeline for VGX-3100, a product candidate
for treating HPV-associated cervical high-grade squamous
intraepithelial lesions (HSIL).
About INOVIO
INOVIO is a biotechnology company focused on developing and
commercializing DNA medicines to potentially treat and protect
people from infectious diseases, cancer, and diseases associated
with HPV. Our DNA medicines are delivered using our proprietary
smart device to produce immune responses against targeted pathogens
and cancers.
Partners and collaborators include Advaccine, ApolloBio
Corporation, AstraZeneca, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency/Joint Program Executive Office for
Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense/Department
of Defense, HIV Vaccines Trial Network, International Vaccine
Institute, Kaneka Eurogentec, Medical CBRN Defense Consortium,
National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Ology Bioservices,
the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Plumbline Life
Sciences, Regeneron, Richter-Helm BioLogics, Thermo Fisher
Scientific, University of Pennsylvania,
Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and The Wistar Institute.
For more information, visit www.inovio.com.
Contacts
Investors & Media:
Gene Kim, (267) 589-9471,
gene.kim@inovio.com
Thomas Hong, (267) 440-4298,
thomas.hong@inovio.com
Forward Looking
Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements
relating to our business, including our plans to develop and
commercialize DNA medicines, our expectations regarding our
research and development programs, including the planned initiation
and conduct of pre-clinical studies and clinical trials and the
availability and timing of data from those studies and trials,
expectations about the upfront costs and long-term cost reductions
associated with our corporate reorganization and the anticipated
extension of the company's cash runway. 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, product development programs and
commercialization activities and outcomes, 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 medicines, our ability to
support our pipeline of DNA medicine products, the ability of our
collaborators to attain development and commercial milestones for
products we license and product sales that will enable us to
receive future payments and royalties, the adequacy of our capital
resources, the availability or potential availability of
alternative therapies or treatments for the conditions targeted by
us or collaborators, including alternatives that may be more
efficacious or cost effective than any therapy or treatment that we
and our collaborators hope to develop, issues involving product
liability, issues involving patents and whether they or licenses to
them will provide us 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
we 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, 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, 2021, our
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, and other filings we make from
time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There can
be no assurance that any product candidate in our pipeline will be
successfully developed, manufactured, or commercialized, that the
results of clinical trials will be supportive of regulatory
approvals required to market products, or that any of the
forward-looking information provided herein will be proven
accurate. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of
this release, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise
these statements, except as may be required by law.
View original
content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/inovio-announces-corporate-reorganization-to-reduce-operational-expenses-and-focus-on-opportunities-to-bring-the-promise-of-dna-medicines-to-patients-301588837.html
SOURCE INOVIO Pharmaceuticals, Inc.