A national securities litigation firm has filed a class action lawsuit alleging that Inovio Pharmaceuticals misled its investors about the development of a vaccine for COVID-19.
Citron Research has published a research paper making similar claims, calling Inovio "The COVID-19 Version of Theranos."
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania (McDermid v. Inovio Pharms), alleges that Inovio made misleading statements about the company’s development of a purported vaccine for COVID-19, artificially inflating the company’s share price and resulting in significant investor losses.
The research paper echoes the claim, stating, "As the greatest scientific minds globally are working tirelessly to find a cure, Inovio Pharmaceuticals claims to have developed a vaccine in just 3 hours under the same scientific team that has spent decades deceiving investors."
The controversy is surrounding Inovio's claim that it has a computer algorithm that can fully design a vaccine in three hours.
Inovia has yet to comment on the matter, but has announced that its Phase 1 U.S. clinical trial enrollment is complete and interim immune responses and safety results are expected in late-June.