SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Inovio Biomedical Corporation (NYSE Amex:INO), a leader in DNA vaccine design, development and delivery, announced today it has granted an option to a commercial license to develop intravascular catheters using its proprietary electroporation technology to Cardigant Medical, Inc. of Long Beach, California. Cardigant intends to develop catheters utilizing Inovio’s electroporation technology in exchange for an option fee and, upon exercise of the option, royalties on product sales. Inovio preclinical and interim clinical data have shown the capability of the company’s electroporation technology to dramatically enhance cellular uptake of drugs and genes, and, in the case of genes, levels of gene expression. These characteristics may enhance the utility of drug or gene-based therapeutics for treating a variety of vascular conditions, including vulnerable plaques and others requiring revascularization.
Jerett Creed, President of Cardigant Medical, said, “We strongly believe in the potential of this technology to enhance the therapeutic options available for treating the many components of vascular disease. We view this technology as an enabling component that we hope will translate into improved clinical outcomes for patients worldwide.”
Dr. J. Joseph Kim, CEO of Inovio Biomedical, stated, “Inovio’s significant electroporation patent estate and well-developed technology encompasses a broad scope of medical applications, with many potentially important development opportunities. While Inovio is devoted to the advancement of its proprietary pipeline of electroporation-delivered DNA vaccines for diseases such as HPV, HIV and influenza, we are pleased to establish this relationship with Cardigant. We wish them success in their endeavor to commercialize this promising application of electroporation technology.”
About Cardigant Medical Inc.
Cardigant Medical Inc is an early stage medical technology company focused on novel designs for enhanced delivery of therapeutic agents used to treat the many complexities of today’s vascular disease. The company was founded on the idea that innovation, as it relates to new products, requires a desire to think beyond the current understanding of a product or technology and a fundamental resolve to follow the path this new understanding brings. The company is challenging the current standard of care to develop a new vision for how technology can improve clinical outcomes.
About Inovio Biomedical Corporation
Inovio Biomedical is engaged in the design, development, and delivery of a new generation of vaccines, called DNA vaccines, focused on cancers and infectious diseases. The company’s SynCon™ technology enables the design of DNA-based vaccines better-targeted to desired immune system mechanisms and capable of providing cross-protection against evolving, unmatched strains of pathogens such as influenza. Inovio’s proprietary electroporation DNA delivery technology uses brief, controlled electrical pulses to increase cellular DNA vaccine uptake. Initial human data has shown this method can safely and significantly increase gene expression and immune responses. Inovio’s clinical programs include HPV/cervical cancer (therapeutic) and HIV vaccines. An IND has been filed for an avian influenza vaccine. Partners and collaborators include Merck, Tripep, University of Southampton, University of Pennsylvania, and HIV Vaccines Trial Network. Inovio’s product candidates and technologies are protected by an extensive global intellectual property portfolio. More information is available at www.inovio.com.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to our plans to develop electroporation-based drug and gene delivery technologies and DNA vaccines. Actual events or results may differ from the expectations set forth herein as a result of a number of factors, including uncertainties inherent in 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 and that results from one study may not necessarily be reflected or supported by the results of other similar 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, the availability or potential availability of alternative therapies or treatments for the conditions targeted by the parties or their collaborators, including alternatives that may be more efficacious or cost-effective than any therapy or treatment that the parties and their collaborators hope to develop, evaluation of potential opportunities, issues involving patents and whether they or licenses to them will provide the parties 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 combined 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 companies’ combined technology by potential corporate or other partners or collaborators, capital market conditions, our ability to successfully integrate Inovio and VGX Pharmaceuticals, the impact of government healthcare proposals, our ability to maintain listing of our common stock under the rules and regulations of the NYSE Amex and other factors set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008, our Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2009, and other regulatory filings from time to time, including our current report on Form 8-K reporting the closing of the merger transaction with VGX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 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.
Contact:
Investors: Inovio Biomedical Bernie Hertel 858-410-3101 or Media: Richardson & Associates Jeff Richardson 805-491-8313
