SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 17, 2006--Inovio Biomedical Corporation (AMEX:INO), a late stage developer of cancer and other therapies using electroporation to deliver drugs and nucleic acids, announced today that it has signed an agreement with Swedish-based Tripep AB (The Stockholm Exchange:TPEP) to develop a therapeutic vaccine for hepatitis C virus (HCV). The vaccine will be based on Tripep’s proprietary HCV antigen and delivered to infected individuals using Inovio’s Medpulser DNA Delivery System. Initiation of a phase I clinical trial is expected to begin in 2006 and will be performed in Sweden. Hepatitis C virus is a major cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. The standard treatment for HCV, combination therapy with pegylated interferon alfa and ribavirin, has limited efficacy, poor tolerability, and significant expense. New treatment options that are more potent and less toxic are desperately needed.
