Roche has bolstered its early-stage pipeline by entering a collaboration with small US biotech company Inovio Pharmaceuticals. Roche is paying $10m upfront for exclusive worldwide rights to two of Inovio's preclinical immunotherapies targeting prostate cancer and hepatitis B.
Roche's license covers Inovio's DNA-based vaccines INO-5150 (targeting prostate cancer) and INO-1800 (targeting hepatitis B) as well as the use of Inovio's Cellectra electroporation technology for delivery of the vaccines