HAGENS BERMAN, NATIONAL TRIAL ATTORNEYS, Encourages Inovio Pharmaceuticals (INO) Investors with Significant Losses to Contact its Attorneys: Securities Fraud Class Action Filed

SAN FRANCISCO, March 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hagens Berman urges investors in Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: INO) who have suffered significant losses to submit their losses now.  A securities fraud class action has been filed against the Company and certain investors may have valuable claims. 

Inovio (INO) Securities Class Action:

The complaint alleges that Defendants made misleading statements about Inovio's development of a purported vaccine for the novel coronavirus.  Specifically, in a Feb. 14, 2020 televised interview, Inovio CEO J. Joseph Kim stated that Inovio had developed a COVID-19 vaccine "in a matter of about three hours once we had the DNA sequence from the virus." Then, in a well-publicized Mar. 2, 2020 COVID-19 meeting with President Trump, Kim again claimed "we were able to fully construct our vaccine within three hours . . . . Our plan is to start [U.S. based COVID-19 trials] in April of this year."

The complaint alleges that Inovio had not in fact developed a COVID-19 vaccine.  According to the complaint, the truth emerged on Mar. 9, 2020, when Citron Research tweeted, "SEC should immediately HALT this stock and investigate the ludicrous and dangerous claim that they designed a vaccine in 3 hours."  In response to the news, Inovio's stock price plummeted over the next two trading days, wiping out $640 million in shareholder value.  Since this time, while Inovio has disputed Citron's allegations, the Company has admitted that it has not developed a COVID-19 vaccine; instead, the Company merely "designed a vaccine construct" – i.e., a precursor for a vaccine – and that it believed it had a "viable approach to address the COVID-19 outbreak."

"We're focused on investors' losses and proving that Inovio falsely promoted its purported COVID-19 vaccine," said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.

If you purchased shares of Inovio and suffered significant losses, click here to discuss your legal rights with Hagens Berman.

Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Inovio should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email INO@hbsslaw.com.

About Hagens Berman
Hagens Berman is a national law firm with nine offices in eight cities around the country and eighty attorneys. The firm represents investors, whistleblowers, workers and consumers in complex litigation. More about the firm and its successes is located at hbsslaw.com. For the latest news visit our newsroom or follow us on Twitter at @classactionlaw.

Contact:
Reed Kathrein, 844-916-0895

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SOURCE Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP