Why Are Inovio Shares Plummeting Today

Joseph Kim, the longtime CEO of Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc INO, is stepping down to make room for Jacqueline Shea, who first joined Inovio as COO in 2019.
Shea will be overseeing a change in direction as Inovio, a laggard in the COVID-19 vaccine race, has closed a Phase 3 trial in favor of a booster strategy.
"We look forward to Dr. Shea taking the helm during a particularly challenging period in INOVIO's history," board chairman Simon X. Benito said.
Inovio said it will now focus on testing INO-4800 as a booster to other vaccines (making it a "heterologous" booster) rather than a primary series vaccine option.
Related: Lab Study Shows Inovio's COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Weaker Against Omicron Variant.
Meanwhile, Inovio revealed it's also changing directions with VGX-3100 for HPV-16/18-associated cervical high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions.
The FDA advised the company to conduct another trial to confirm its hypothesis that the immunotherapy works for a biomarker-selected subgroup.
Given an additional trial, Inovia no longer expects to submit a marketing application in 2023 for VGX-3100.
Price Action: INO shares are down 31.7% at $1.70 during the market session on the last check Wednesday.

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