Roth ‘unimpressed’ with Inovio data, downgrades to Sell with $11 target

Roth Capital analyst Jonathan Aschoff downgraded Inovio Pharmaceuticals to Sell from Neutral with an unchanged price target of $11. The stock closed Tuesday down $4.74 to $26.95. The company yesterday released “very limited” preliminary Phase 1 results from its trial with SARS-CoV-2 vaccine INO-4800, Aschoff tells investors in a research note. The analyst is “not encouraged by the complete absence of immune response details” and notes the denial of Inovio’s injunction to force suppliers to share needed production technology. Aschoff says that despite its inclusion in the White House’s Operation Warp Speed, he’s “unimpressed that further preclinical work is required, rather than proceeding straight to later stage trials.”