INOVIO and a team of scientists from The Wistar Institute, AstraZeneca, the University of Pennsylvania, and Indiana University received a $37.6 million grant from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), to use INOVIO’s DNA-encoded monoclonal antibody (dMAb) technology to develop anti-SARS-CoV-2-specific dMAbs, which could offer versatile capabilities to function as both a therapeutic and preventive treatment for COVID-19.

As part of DARPA’s two-year grant, INOVIO and Wistar teams will construct COVID-19 dMAb candidates mirroring AstraZeneca’s traditional recombinant monoclonal antibody candidates currently being tested in clinical trials to treat COVID-19. dMAb candidates can be quickly developed and produced in vivo, offering a cost-effective and scalable therapeutic and preventive option for treatment of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection. The dMAb candidates will then be advanced into preclinical studies and then into rigorous, first-in-human clinical trials within one year of funding.

INOVIO’s dMAb technology offers a disruptive and differentiated solution to the challenges and limitations associated with conventional recombinant monoclonal antibody-based treatments. The company can encode the DNA sequence for a specific monoclonal antibody in a DNA plasmid and deliver the plasmid directly into cells of the body using the company’s proprietary smart device called CELLECTRA®. This specific DNA medicine serves as a genetic blueprint that instruct the patient’s body to build its own highly specific antibodies in vivo.

Dr. J. Joseph Kim, President and CEO of INOVIO, said, “INOVIO’s anti-SARS-CoV-2 dMAbs present a unique complement to our DNA vaccine candidate for COVID-19 prevention, INO-4800, which currently is in the Phase 2 segment of our INNOVATE Phase 2/3 clinical trial with funding from the DoD/JPEO-CBRND, as well as our other candidates in our DNA medicines platform. This public-private partnership allows us to not only broaden the scope and application of our DNA medicines platform across the spectrum of needed COVID-19 treatment modalities, but also to open the door for better patient administration and more cost-effective, scalable production of monoclonal antibody products for other infectious diseases and cancers.”