Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INO) is in the news Tuesday after a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) sent INO stock soaring higher.
According to an Inovio Pharmaceuticals news release, the company has received $71 million funding from the DoD. The company is using these funds to scale up the manufacturing of Cellectra 3PSP. It also includes the purchase of Cellectra 2000 devices.
Cellectra 3PSP and Cellectra 2000 devices are made by the company to handle the direct injection of INO-4800 into the skin. INO-4800 is Inovio Pharmaceuticals’ DNA vaccine candidate designed to protect people from the novel coronavirus.
Inovio Pharmaceuticals notes that there are several benefits to its Cellectra 3PSP devices. Starting off, they are easy to use and only require AA batteries to run. Adding to this is the lack of maintenance and the ability to operate in rough environments.
Dr. J. Joseph Kim, president and CEO of Inovio Pharmaceuticals, said this about the news.
“INOVIO is very pleased to receive this significant funding from the U.S. Department of Defense to continue our rapid scale-up capacity for our breakthrough DNA medicines delivery device CELLECTRA®. We look forward to working closely with DoD, JPEO-CBRND and JPL-CBRND-EB to provide much needed protection to DoD personnel and their families through development of a safe and effective vaccine against COVID-19.”
The DoD isn’t the first group to take interest in Inovio Pharmaceuticals’ Cellectra 3PSP. Earlier groups helping fund the device include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.
INO stock was up 43.6% as of Tuesday afternoon.
As of this writing, William White did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
