Inovio acquires assets from Bioject

US drugmaker Inovio Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: INO) today revealed it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire all of Bioject Medical Technologies’ assets including pioneering needle-free jet injection technology, devices, and intellectual property. Inovio will pay Bioject $5.5 million in cash and stock.

Inovio will advance an integrated non-invasive delivery device combining Bioject’s jet injection technology with its own new needle-free, skin-surface electroporation (EP) technology. The company’s goal is to facilitate preventive immunization using its DNA vaccines against critical infectious diseases with unmet needs in large populations. Bioject’s needle-free devices, which use high pressure gas or springs to propel liquid medicine into skin, have demonstrated desirable utility, safety, and tolerability attributes in animals and humans. Under a prior research agreement, Inovio assessed this technology with its new EP delivery system and generated compelling antigen expression and immune responses in animals.

Joseph Kim, Inovio’s chief executive, said: “Our current DNA delivery method is