Plymouth Meeting-based Inovio is adopting a new strategy in the hopes of gaining regulatory approval for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, INO-4800, writes John George for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

The biotechnology company plans to modify the primary endpoint — the main result that is measured at the end of a study to determine if a drug candidate actually worked — of Phase 3 clinical trial for INO-4800. The new primary endpoint will be the experimental vaccine’s ability to prevent severe disease in patients infected by the coronavirus.

“Covid-19 represents a continued and persistent threat to the health of our global community,” said J. Joseph Kim, CEO of Inovio. “The highly transmissible omicron variant underscores the ongoing challenge to improve access to both primary vaccines and boosters.”

He added that while over 63 percent of the global population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine so far, in some countries first-dose vaccination rates are still under 12 percent.

Phase 3 clinical trials will focus on T-cell responses to the virus, which play a significant role in protection against severe disease and death.

Read more about Inovio and their hopes for regulatory approval for its COVID-19 vaccine in the Philadelphia Business Journal.