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Inovio Abandons Lassa, MERS Vaccines Shortly After Ending COVID-19 Booster Work

 
• By Joseph Haas

Two clinical-stage vaccine candidates for Lassa Fever and MERS, funded by CEPI, are being discontinued, but Inovio will continue its focus on DNA medicines for HPV-related conditions and cancer.

Halt
Inovio is halting work on two vaccines partnered with CEPI • Source: Shutterstock

Development setbacks continue for Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. as the Philadelphia-area firm revealed on 17 November that it is ending development of a pair of vaccine candidates – INO-4500 for Lassa Fever and INO-4700 for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) – after analyzing data from ongoing trials with funding partner the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

Inovio held its Q3 earnings call on 8 November and the two experimental vaccines were not mentioned during the call or in several analyst notes about the earnings report. CEO Jacqueline Shea told the call that the company has been prioritizing its pipeline efforts to focus on “those candidates that have the greatest near-term potential for patient benefit and commercialization

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