Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc (INO)

[Ubertino]

MARKET REPORT: Healthy interest in Inovio Pharmaceuticals's future as big pharma groups sniff around

By GEOFF FOSTER FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 21:16 GMT, 4 June 2015 | UPDATED: 21:16 GMT, 4 June 2015

Medical experts this week told us that immunotherapy, which trains the immune system to attack cancerous cells, could replace chemotherapy as the standard treatment for cancer within the next five years.

The disease continues to kill people the world over and drug companies, big and small, continue to invest millions in research and development in the hope a magic cure could one day be found.

Should that ever happen, the lucky company would be worth an absolute fortune.

Treatments: Inovio Pharmaceuticals advanced 3 per cent to $8.88 on industry gossip that leading pharma groups were sniffing around

In the meantime, anyone with a potential blockbuster cancer treatment looks vulnerable and possible fodder for one of the major drug groups.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals advanced 3 per cent to $8.88 on industry gossip that leading pharma groups were sniffing around. Indeed, speculation is rife that GlaxoSmithKline, 26p cheaper at 1411.5p, has had an $18 (£11.70) a share cash offer already rejected by the Inovio board. With rivals Roche, Bristol Myers and Merck all believed to be interested, analysts reckon the eventual take-out price could be nearer $30 (£19.50) a share.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange August 4, 2011. U.S. stocks resumed their downward march on Thursday after a one-day reprieve with all three major indexes down more than 1 percent as a labor market report added to recent evidence the economy has lost momentum.

Inovio has a lot of DNA vaccine candidates in its pipeline, but the most advanced is VGX-3100 for cervical dysplasia, a cause of cervical cancer. Phase 2 trial results were promising enough that Inovio plans to usher it into phase 3 trials next year.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/markets/article-3111580/MARKET-REPORT-Healthy-Inovio-Pharmaceuticals-s-future.html