BLUE BELL, Pa., Mar. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE Amex: [ INO ]) announced today Dr. Adel Mahmoud, a global infectious disease and vaccines expert, has been appointed to Inovio's Board of Directors. During his long tenure at Merck & Co., Dr. Mahmoud was responsible for the development and commercialization of several new important vaccines, including Gardasil®, Zostavax®, Proquad® and Rotateq®.

Dr. Mahmoud is currently Professor, Department of Molecular Biology and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He was President, Merck Vaccines, from 1999 to 2005 and also served as Merck's Chief Medical Advisor for Vaccines and Infectious Diseases. More recently, Dr. Mahmoud has been leading strategy development for global health agencies tackling bioterrorism and emerging diseases such as pandemic influenza and SARS. Prior to joining Merck, Dr. Mahmoud was Chairman, Department of Medicine and Physician-in-Chief (1987-1998) at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals of Cleveland.

Dr. Mahmoud said, "I am pleased to join the medical and business leaders on Inovio's Board at a time when Inovio's synthetic vaccine technology is achieving important evidence of its potential and its avenues for product development and advancement represent an array of notable opportunities and choices."

Dr. J. Joseph Kim, President and CEO, said, "Dr. Mahmoud is known throughout the industry for his success in gaining approval for several blockbuster vaccines. His insights will be advantageous to Inovio as we move our synthetic vaccine portfolio toward late-stage clinical trials."

About Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Inovio is revolutionizing vaccines to prevent and treat today's cancers and challenging infectious diseases. Its SynCon® vaccines are designed to provide universal cross-strain protection against known as well as newly emergent unmatched strains of pathogens such as influenza. These synthetic vaccines, in combination with Inovio's proprietary electroporation delivery, have been shown in humans to generate best-in-class immune responses with a favorable safety profile. Inovio's clinical programs include Phase II studies for cervical dysplasia, leukemia and hepatitis C virus and Phase I studies for influenza and HIV. Partners and collaborators include the University of Pennsylvania, Merck, ChronTech, National Cancer Institute, U.S. Military HIV Research Program, NIH, HIV Vaccines Trial Network, University of Southampton, US Dept. of Homeland Security and PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative. More information is available at [ www.inovio.com ].

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to our business, including our plans to develop electroporation-based drug and gene delivery technologies and synthetic vaccines and our capital resources. Actual events or results may differ from the expectations set forth herein as a result of a number of factors, including uncertainties inherent in pre-clinical studies, clinical trials and product development programs (including, but not limited to, the fact that pre-clinical and clinical results referenced in this release may not be indicative of results achievable in other trials or for other indications, that the studies or trials may not be successful or achieve the results desired, that pre-clinical studies and clinical trials may not commence or be completed in the time periods anticipated, that results from one study may not necessarily be reflected or supported by the results of other similar studies and that results from an animal study may not be indicative of results achievable in human studies), the availability of funding to support continuing research and studies in an effort to prove safety and efficacy of electroporation technology as a delivery mechanism or develop viable synthetic vaccines, the adequacy of our capital resources, the availability or potential availability of alternative therapies or treatments for the conditions targeted by the company or its collaborators, including alternatives that may be more efficacious or cost-effective than any therapy or treatment that the company and its collaborators hope to develop, evaluation of potential opportunities, issues involving product liability, issues involving patents and whether they or licenses to them will provide the company with meaningful protection from others using the covered technologies, whether such proprietary rights are enforceable or defensible or infringe or allegedly infringe on rights of others or can withstand claims of invalidity and whether the company can finance or devote other significant resources that may be necessary to prosecute, protect or defend them, the level of corporate expenditures, assessments of the company's technology by potential corporate or other partners or collaborators, capital market conditions, the impact of government healthcare proposals and other factors set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011 and other regulatory filings from time to time. There can be no assurance that any product in Inovio's pipeline will be successfully developed or manufactured, that final results of clinical studies will be supportive of regulatory approvals required to market licensed products, or that any of the forward-looking information provided herein will be proven accurate.

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CONTACTS:

Investors: Bernie Hertel, Inovio Pharmaceuticals 858-410-3101 [ bhertel@inovio.com ]

Media: Jeff Richardson, Richardson & Associates 805-491-8313 [ jeff@richardsonglobalpr.com ]

SOURCE Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

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Inovio Appoints Retired Merck Vaccines President Dr. Adel Mahmoud to its Board of Directors

Inovio Appoints Retired Merck Vaccines President Dr. Adel Mahmoud to its Board of Directors