Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an American biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of synthetic DNA products for treating cancers and infectious diseases.

The proteins encoded by the DNA elicit immune response to antigens from cancers and viruses, by stimulating the production of T cells and antibodies that aid recovery.

[7] Shareholders sued Inovio in August 2020, claiming it exaggerated evidence of its coronavirus vaccine's efficacy in order to boost its stock price.

"[10] To facilitate use of its potential products, Inovio manufactures a proprietary injection device, called "Cellectra", which the company describes as providing a "brief electrical pulse to reversibly open small pores in the cell to allow the plasmids to enter, overcoming a key limitation of other DNA and other nucleic acid approaches, such as mRNA.

[13] In a 2016 dose-escalation Phase I clinical trial to assess safety after intramuscular injection in healthy adults, the Inovio vaccine candidate, INO-4700 (also called GLS-5300) for development against Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus, proved to be safe with only mild symptoms and no adverse effects.

[16][17] In February 2020 after receiving details of the genetic sequence of the coronavirus, Inovio announced that it had produced a preclinical DNA-based vaccine as a potential therapy for COVID-19.

[citation needed] On 9 July it decided to conduct phase 3 trials in partnership with Beijing based Advaccine Pharmaceutical company.