Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc (INO)

[Ubertino]

Inovio Goes It Alone on Hepatitis B Immunotherapy Vaccine as Roche Ends Collaboration

Aug 3, 2016

Inovio Pharmaceuticals said today it will go it alone in continuing to develop its hepatitis B DNA immunotherapy vaccine candidate INO-1800, after Roche pulled out of a nearly 3-year collaboration with the biotech.

Inovio said it received notice from Roche that it was ending the companies’ collaboration on INO-1800, which is the subject of a Phase I study and returning to Inovio its rights to the immunotherapy—including rights to license the product to other companies.

The companies launched their up-to-$422.5 million partnership in 2013 to develop and commercialize INO-1800 as well INO-5150, an Inovio vaccine candidate targeting prostate cancer.

Despite the pullout, infectious diseases is one of Roche’s six areas of therapeutic focus. The other five are oncology, neuroscience, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolism, and ophthalmology.

In a presentation to investors accompanying its first-half results released July 21, Roche said its pipeline for hepatitis B consisted of INO-1800 alone and in combination with INO-9112, as well as two other candidates: the Phase I small molecule RG7834 and RG7795, a Phase II TLR7 agonist slated for a regulatory filing in “2019 and beyond.”

Roche acquired RG7795 (formerly ANA 773) when it bought Anandys Pharmaceuticals in 2011.

http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/inovio-goes-it-alone-on-hepatitis-b-immunotherapy-vaccine-as-roche-ends-collaboration/81253045/