Partners and collaborators include MedImmune, Roche, The Wistar Institute, University of Pennsylvania, DARPA, GeneOne Life Science, Plumbline Life Sciences, Drexel University, NIH, HIV Vaccines Trial Network, National Cancer Institute, U.S. Military HIV Research Program, and University of Manitoba.
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The first clinical tests in people of a new vaccine to combat the Zika virus will begin in the next several weeks, a Philadelphia area biotech company announced Monday. More seriously, Zika has been linked to a severe birth defect called microcephaly which arises from infection during pregnancy.
The open-label, dose-ranging Phase 1 study-with 40 healthy subjects-will test the tolerability, safety and immunogenicity of GLS-5700.
The NIH is working to develop a Zika vaccine by swapping out the genetic material from its experimental West Nile virus vaccine.
President Obama has requested $1.9 billion in emergency spending to speed the pursuit of a vaccine and better diagnostic test for Zika, while bolstering local mosquito control efforts.
Zika is spread mainly through the bite of a tropical mosquito, Aedes aegypti.
Listeria infection can be serious and sometimes deadly in young children, elderly or frail people and others with weak immune systems, and can cause miscarriages and stillbirth in pregnant women.
First identified in Uganda, Zika virus subsequently spread to equatorial Asia and over the past two years has rapidly spread through the South Pacific, including Hawaii, and to South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
Shares of Inovio closed Friday down 2.5% at $10.47, with a consensus analyst price target of $15.50 and a 52-week trading range of $4.50 to $11.69.
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