Inovio Biomedical Corporation, a late stage biomedical company, announced that it has exercised an existing option with RMR, LLC, a privately held biotechnology company dedicated to research and development of drug and gene delivery technology, license certain patented technology relating to the delivery of gene-based therapeutics into skin.

The license also includes other patents involving the delivery of genes or drugs via ex vivo, intratumoral, and intramuscular electroporation. As an example of potential applications, in the area of bioterrorism, RMR is currently employing its skin electroporation technology in the pre-clinical development of an anthrax vaccine under a Department of Defense Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program grant. The technology may also be useful with respect to targets such as the Lassa fever virus currently being studied by the US Army in collaboration with Inovio. The ex-vivo patents are relevant to the delivery of genes to dendritic and stem cells.

Inovio has a number of ongoing clinical trials that involve delivering DNA vaccines into muscle tissue. Recent pre-clinical studies suggest that, for certain indications, needle-less skin electroporation of DNA plasmids encoding selected antigens may also be effective at inducing desired immune responses.

The patented technology licensed from RMR covers various skin electroporation electrode designs and methods, including a needle-less design using a flexible material that conforms to the skin contour. Inovio and RMR have agreed to collaborate in an effort to develop research prototypes into commercial grade electrodes for skin delivery as well as other novel forms of electroporation-assisted DNA delivery.

Inovio has agreed to provide RMR with other development expertise pertinent to projects such as RMR's SBIR-funded pre-clinical study using RMR's proprietary, conformable dermal electrodes to deliver a DNA vaccine against anthrax.

Inovio has also licensed from RMR patents that claim the intratumoral delivery method used in the ongoing clinical trial at the Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, which is delivering the gene encoding interleukin-12 directly to melanoma lesions. RMR, Inovio, the University of South Florida and Moffitt Cancer Center have been collaborating in the development of this novel therapy for melanoma for the past two years.

Inovio has three proprietary gene and drug delivery platforms that may enable the development of numerous product candidates. These platforms encompass patents, technology, and other intellectual property encompassing intratumoral, intramuscular, and intradermal methods for delivering drugs and gene-based treatments in humans.

The RMR patents complement Inovio's recently issued, seminal patent (US patent 6,972,013) claiming methods of delivery of any DNA plasmid to skin via electroporation and the company's recent licensing of Sphergen's muscle and tumour delivery intellectual property. Collectively, Inovio's patent portfolio places the company in a pre-eminent position with respect to patents and patent rights in the rapidly expanding field of electroporation-based delivery of gene-based treatments for cancers, infectious diseases and protein-proficiency diseases.

"Inovio has aggressively pursued consolidation of key intellectual property rights in the area of gene and drug delivery to any human tissue via in vivo electroporation," said Avtar Dhillon, MD, CEO of Inovio Biomedical. "We are pleased to strengthen our relationship with Drs. Richard Heller, Mark Jaroszeski and Richard Gilbert of RMR. Their scientific leadership contributed to the initiation of a pioneering clinical study using our proprietary electroporation delivery platform for a gene-based treatment. We anticipate that our collaboration with RMR may also enable other important applications of electroporation technology for DNA vaccines to counter bioterrorism agents and pandemics such as avian flu and HIV."