Inovio tops Q2 sales estimate by $4m

Shares in Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ:INO) rose today after the pharmaceutical company beat expectations on Wall Street with its second quarter results.

The Plymouth Meeting, Penn.-based company posted a net loss of -$9.5 million on sales of $20.4 million for the 3 months ended June 30, for bottom-line growth of 49% compared with the same period last year.

Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were -13¢, ahead of consensus on The Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $15.9 million.

INO shares were trading at $5.60 apiece today in afternoon activity, up 3.1%.

In June, Inovio announced that it plans to launch a Phase III clinical study of its investigational DNA immunotherapy candidate designed to treat cervical dysplasia caused by human papillomavirus.

The moves came after the FDA lifted a hold that it placed on the clinical program in October last year. At the time, the FDA requested data to support the shelf-life of the disposable parts of Inovio’s Cellectra electroporation device.

Inovio plans to evaluate the efficacy of VGX-3100, its first immunotherapy, in regressing cervical high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions – a direct precursor to vervical cancer – and its ability to eliminate the HPV infection that causes the lesions. Data from the pivotal trial will support the potential licensure of VGX-3100 as the 1st immunotherapy for this disease, according to Inovio.

The company’s plasmid DNA immunotherapy  is injected intramuscularly, followed by electroporation using Inovio’s Cellectra delivery device. Cellectra uses a pulse of electricity to briefly open the pores in a cell’s membrane and introduce the DNA.

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