Plymouth Meeting-based Inovio Pharmaceuticals has expanded the late-stage testing of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate it is working on with China’s Advaccine Biopharmaceuticals Suzhou to Colombia, writes John George for The Business Journals.

The move follows the approval granted by the country’s Instituto Nacional de Vigilancia de Medicamentos y Alimentos to Inovio to conduct the Phase 3 segment of its trial there.

The biotechnology company is conducting the trial in several other countries, with a special focus on countries in Latin America, Asia, and Africa.

Previously, Inovio Pharmaceuticals was granted regulatory authorization to perform these studies in Brazil, Mexico, China, and the Philippines.

“With Covid-19 rates continuing to rise in many areas around the world, and with continued limitations to vaccine access in many countries globally, we are grateful to the multiple health authorities who are supporting our efforts to advance the efficacy evaluation of our Covid-19 vaccine,” said J. Joseph Kim, CEO of Inovio Pharmaceuticals.

He added that the company’s candidate INO-4800 “is well-positioned to support vaccination efforts in Colombia and beyond, if approved—with the prospects of potentially serving both as a primary series and as a booster vaccine.”

Read more about Inovio Pharmaceuticals’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate in The Business Journals.