This Phase 2/3 clinical trial is called INNOVATE (INOVIO INO-4800 Vaccine Trial for Efficacy), evaluating INO-4800 a DNA vaccine candidate for COVID-19. 

This trial is a randomized, placebo-controlled, multi-center trial to evaluate the safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of INO-4800 administered by intradermal (ID) injection followed by electroporation (EP) using CELLECTRA® 2000 device to prevent COVID-19 disease in participants at high risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2.

The Phase 2 segment will evaluate immunogenicity and safety in approximately 400 participants at two dose levels across three age groups. Safety and immunogenicity information from the Phase 2 segment will be used to determine the dose level for the Phase 3 efficacy segment of the study involving approximately 6178 participants.

Interim Results: Phase 2

The Phase 2 segment of INNOVATE was designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of INO-4800 in a two-dose regimen (1.0 mg or 2.0 mg) in a three-to-one-randomization to receive either INO-4800 or placebo for each dose to identify optimal dose(s) for two age groups (18-50 years and 51 years and older) for the subsequent Phase 3 efficacy evaluation.

The preliminary Phase 2 results showed that INO-4800 was safe, well-tolerated and immunogenic in all tested age groups. 

Safety endpoints included systemic and local administration site reactions through 8 weeks post-dose one (or 4 weeks post-dose 2). Immunology endpoints included antigen-specific binding antibody titers, neutralization titers, and antigen-specific interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) cellular immune responses after two doses of the vaccine.

Vaccine administration was generally safe and well-tolerated. The majority of adverse events (AEs) were Grade 1 and Grade 2 in severity and did not appear to increase in frequency with the second dose. The number of participants experiencing each of the most common AEs did not differ between the two dosing groups.

The geometric mean fold rise (GMFR) of binding and neutralizing antibody levels were statistically significantly greater in the 2.0 mg dose group versus the 1.0 mg dose group.

The T cell immune responses measured by the ELISpot assay were also higher in the 2.0 mg dose group compared to the 1.0 mg dose group.