Inovio Pharmaceuticals (INO) Announces Transition of Avtar Dhillon to Non-Executive Chairman of the Board

BLUE BELL, Pa., July 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE Amex: INO), a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, announced today that Dr. Avtar Dhillon has become non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. Dr. Dhillon was initially appointed as Executive Chairman of the Board in 2009 in conjunction with the merger between Inovio Biomedical and VGX Pharmaceuticals with a mandate to provide continuity and strategic guidance during their integration. Dr. Dhillon will now exclusively focus on his role as chairman of the Board of Directors and will no longer have executive responsibilities.

Dr. J. Joseph Kim, Inovio's President and CEO, said: "Avtar has provided strong leadership and support during the integration and build up of Inovio Pharmaceuticals. We look forward to his continued leadership as a non-executive Chairman."

About Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Inovio is developing a new generation of vaccines, called DNA vaccines, to treat and prevent cancers and infectious diseases. Its SynCon vaccines are designed to provide broad cross-strain protection against known as well as newly emergent strains of pathogens such as influenza. These vaccines, in combination with Inovio's proprietary electroporation delivery devices, have been shown to be safe and generate significant immune responses. Inovio clinical programs include three Phase II studies for vaccines treating cervical dysplasia/cancer, hepatitis C virus, and leukemia. Other clinical programs target influenza (preventive) and HIV (preventive and therapeutic). Inovio 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, and PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative. More information is available at www.inovio.com.