Ology Bioservices and Inovio Pharmaceuticals announced the Department of Defense (DOD) has awarded Ology Bioservices with a contract valued at $11.9 million to work with Inovio on DNA technology transfer to rapidly manufacture DNA vaccines. This work is supported by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs with funding from the Defense Health Agency.
Under this program, Ology Bioservices will work with Inovio Pharmaceuticals to manufacture Inovio's DNA vaccine (INO-4800) for prevention of infection with the COVID-19 virus. The aim of the program is to rapidly and efficiently deliver the vaccine to the Department of Defense for upcoming clinical trials.
"We are excited to be working with the Department of Defense and Inovio to rapidly respond to this crisis. The Advanced Development and Manufacturing Facility operated by Ology Bioservices was designed to respond to just such emergencies as we are now experiencing, and we are proud to be part of this effort to protect the U.S. warfighter and the nation," Peter H. Khoury, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Ology Bioservices, said.
"Along with advancing INO-4800 through clinical studies as rapidly as possible, Inovio's goal is to scale up the manufacturing of this vaccine for future studies and for potential emergency use, if appropriate,” J. Joseph Kim, Ph.D., Inovio's President and CEO, said. “Powered by the U.S. Department of Defense support, Inovio is pleased to partner with Ology to enable rapid response manufacture of INO-4800 especially for the nation's warfighters and other military personnel. This DOD-funded partnership is a testament to the importance and strength of public-private partnerships in meeting the challenges the world faces with the COVID-19 outbreak. This partnership increases Inovio's manufacturing capabilities for our COVID vaccine and establishes an additional DNA vaccine manufacturing facility to protect the U.S. military against current and future disease outbreaks."