Second potential COVID-19 vaccine in U.S. starts safety test

A second U.S. company is poised to begin safety test of a vaccine against COVID-19 on Monday.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals said Monday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the company’s Investigational New Drug (IND) application for INO-4800, its DNA vaccine candidate designed to prevent COVID-19 infection, paving the way for Phase 1 clinical testing in healthy volunteers beginning this week.

The Phase 1 study will enroll up to 40 healthy adult volunteers in Philadelphia and Kansas City, where screening of potential participants has already begun, said the company.

The first dosing is planned for Monday. Each participant will receive two doses of INO-4800 four weeks apart, and the initial immune responses and safety data from the study are expected by late summer.

Additional preclinical trials, including challenge studies, will continue in parallel with the Phase 1 clinical trial, according to the company.