Inovio Pharmaceuticals Sued Over Securities Laws
What happened
Inovio Pharmaceuticals is facing a class action lawsuit for alleged violations of federal securities laws. A national shareholder rights firm has reminded investors of the deadline to apply as lead plaintiff in the ongoing litigation.
Why it matters
- The core of the lawsuit involves Inovio's proprietary CELLECTRA delivery device, with allegations that manufacturing deficiencies for the device were not disclosed. This device is critical for administering the company's DNA medicines, which are designed as small circular DNA molecules, or plasmids, that instruct the body's cells to produce proteins to fight diseases. - These alleged manufacturing issues directly impacted the timeline for INO-3107, a lead product candidate for treating Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis (RRP), a rare disease caused by HPV. The company allegedly knew it was unlikely to meet its projected Biologics License Application (BLA) submission to the FDA in the second half of 2024. - After Inovio announced a "manufacturing issue" with a CELLECTRA component and delayed the expected BLA submission to mid-2025, the company's stock price dropped by more than 24%. - This is separate from a prior 2020 class action lawsuit that accused the company of making overly optimistic statements about its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, INO-4800. In that case, CEO J. Joseph Kim claimed the company had designed the vaccine in just three hours after the virus's genetic sequence was published and that human trials would begin in April 2020. - The 2020 claims led to a significant stock price increase, with shares more than quadrupling from $4.28 to a high of $19.36. However, the stock plummeted after a report from Citron Research on March 9, 2020, called the claims "ludicrous and dangerous," erasing approximately $643 million in market capitalization in two days. - The earlier lawsuit related to the COVID-19 vaccine, which covered a class period from February to August 2020, was ultimately settled, with Inovio agreeing to pay $30 million in cash and 7 million in stock. - The current lawsuit covers a more recent class period, from October 10, 2023, to December 26, 2025. The deadline for investors to file for lead plaintiff status is April 7, 2026.
Key numbers
- These alleged manufacturing issues directly impacted the timeline for INO-3107, a lead product candidate for treating Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis (RRP), a rare disease caused by HPV.
- The company allegedly knew it was unlikely to meet its projected Biologics License Application (BLA) submission to the FDA in the second half of 2024.
- After Inovio announced a "manufacturing issue" with a CELLECTRA component and delayed the expected BLA submission to mid-2025, the company's stock price dropped by more than 24%.
- This is separate from a prior 2020 class action lawsuit that accused the company of making overly optimistic statements about its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, INO-4800.
What happens next
- After Inovio announced a "manufacturing issue" with a CELLECTRA component and delayed the expected BLA submission to mid-2025, the company's stock price dropped by more than 24%.
- Joseph Kim claimed the company had designed the vaccine in just three hours after the virus's genetic sequence was published and that human trials would begin in April 2020.
Quick answers
What happened in Inovio Pharmaceuticals Sued Over Securities Laws?
Inovio Pharmaceuticals is facing a class action lawsuit for alleged violations of federal securities laws. A national shareholder rights firm has reminded investors of the deadline to apply as lead plaintiff in the ongoing litigation.
Why does Inovio Pharmaceuticals Sued Over Securities Laws matter?
The core of the lawsuit involves Inovio's proprietary CELLECTRA delivery device, with allegations that manufacturing deficiencies for the device were not disclosed. This device is critical for administering the company's DNA medicines, which are designed as small circular DNA molecules, or plasmids, that instruct the body's cells to produce proteins to fight diseases. These alleged manufacturing issues directly impacted the timeline for INO-3107, a lead product candidate for treating Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis (RRP), a rare disease caused by HPV. The company allegedly knew it was unlikely to meet its projected Biologics License Application (BLA) submission to the FDA in the second half of 2024. After Inovio announced a "manufacturing issue" with a CELLECTRA component and delayed the expected BLA submission to mid-2025, the company's stock price dropped by more than 24%. This is separate from a prior 2020 class action lawsuit that accused the company of making overly optimistic statements about its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, INO-4800. In that case, CEO J. Joseph Kim claimed the company had designed the vaccine in just three hours after the virus's genetic sequence was published and that human trials would begin in April 2020. The 2020 claims led to a significant stock price increase, with shares more than quadrupling from $4.28 to a high of $19.36. However, the stock plummeted after a report from Citron Research on March 9, 2020, called the claims "ludicrous and dangerous," erasing approximately $643 million in market capitalization in two days. The earlier lawsuit related to the COVID-19 vaccine, which covered a class period from February to August 2020, was ultimately settled, with Inovio agreeing to pay $30 million in cash and 7 million in stock. The current lawsuit covers a more recent class period, from October 10, 2023, to December 26, 2025. The deadline for investors to file for lead plaintiff status is April 7, 2026.
