On Apr. 28, 2020, INOVIO and GeneOne Life Science announced interim data through week 16 from a Phase 1/2a trial of DNA vaccine INO-4700 (also called GLS-5300) for MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Vaccine recipients demonstrated strong antibody and T cell immune responses after 2 or 3 doses with 0.6 mg of INO-4700, a DNA vaccine that targets the MERS-CoV Spike (S) glycoprotein, delivered with intradermal CELLECTRA device.

The vaccination regimen was well-tolerated with no vaccine-associated severe adverse events. The researchers at the Wistar Institute, Seoul National University Hospital, and the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) collaborated on this study with funding from IVI.