Inovio Biomedical Closes Merger with VGX Pharmaceuticals

We are living in an era of some significant mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Inovio Biomedical closed their merger with VGX Pharmaceuticals, where Dr. J. Joseph Kim (also an MIT alum) will be transitioning from the CEO of VGX Pharmaceuticals to the new CEO and director of Inovio Biomedical. He was recently quoted as saying, “Better vaccine design and delivery are two critical requirements to achieving breakthroughs for this new generation of vaccines. Inovio today has world-class DNA vaccine expertise and technology, with leading competencies in these areas. With compelling preclinical data and encouraging proof-of-principle data from human studies already in hand, we are optimistic about Inovio’s potential to achieve additional clinical results that will highlight the company’s leadership in DNA vaccine development.”

Inovio's senior management team will now consist of:

• J. Joseph Kim, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and Director
• Avtar S. Dhillon, M.D., President and Chairman of the Board
• Peter D. Kies, Chief Financial Officer
• C. Jo White, M.D., Chief Medical Officer
• Niranjan Y. Sardesai, Ph.D., Senior VP, Research and Development
• Kevin W. Rassas, Senior VP, Business Development

I wonder if Inovio Biomedical will be one of the first companies to develop a novel vaccine against the swine flu.

VGX and Swine Flu Vaccines

John Gorge writes in his Philadelphia Business Journal healthcare blog about Joseph Kim. No, not me, but another Joseph Kim. Dr. J. Joseph Kim is the CEO of VGX Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company that uses some novel approaches to vaccine development. Dr. Kim also happens to be an MIT alumni, so we do share a few things in common. Like me, he has a strong passion for medical technology. That's what his company is about. He uses electroporation technology to develop DNA-based vaccines and it sounds like they're eager to work on a swine flu vaccine.

It sounds like VGX is merging with Inovio Biomedical Corp. of San Diego and they will operate as VGX.

VGX Pharmaceuticals: PENNVAX and CELLECTRA

Dr. J. Joseph Kim (no, not me) is president and CEO of VGX Pharmaceuticals. We're both MIT alumni, so we share one similar connection. There have been some exciting news from VGX recently.

Here's the headline from a recent press release: "VGX Pharmaceuticals Proprietary DNA Vaccines Delivered with Electroporation Achieve Immune Responses Superior to Recombinant Adenovirus Serotype 5 (Ad5) Vectors"

That sounds very exciting to me because there is such a need for better vaccines. Plus, we really need an HIV vaccine. This press release deals with some results on the PENNVAX HIV Vaccine Program. Researchers have been working on delivering the PENNVAX™ DNA vaccines using a novel electroporation device called CELLECTRA®.

Collaborators include the University of Pennsylvania, VGX, and Merck. These results are truly exciting and they reflect what can happen when you apply novel technologies in healthcare. Perhaps we will see a safe and effective HIV vaccine someday.