Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:INO) has been in the news over the past weeks since it was one of the first companies to have developed and started clinical trials on a coronavirus vaccine. While that is a major plus, it should be noted that there are other factors to consider for those who are looking to invest in the stock.
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The coronavirus vaccine could potentially be a game-changer considering the fact that billions of people all over the world might need to get it. However, the vaccine, known as INO 4800, is not the only thing that is positive for Inovio.
In this regard, it should be pointed out that Inovio has a track record of producing a vaccine for other categories of coronavirus. One of the more important ones in this regard is its Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome vaccine named INO 4700. Moreover, Inovio is not the only company that is pursuing a coronavirus vaccine.
Gregory Renza at RBC even downgraded the stock to sector perform from sector outperform. He stated that the vaccine is not going to be a source of income in the long term. In addition to that, other companies like Johnson & Johnson have already stated the number of doses it can produce, and that completely dwarfs Inovio’s numbers.
While the prospects of the vaccine are doubtful at this point, the company also has other products in the pipeline. VGX-3100, which is meant for treating pre-cancer lesions, is in clinical trials now. A prostate cancer product and another brain cancer product are also in phase 2 of trials at this point. Even if Inovio is successful, it will take many years before these products actually hit the market.
The company’s revenues dropped to $279000 in Q4 2019 from $2.5 million in the year-ago period, and the stock suffered a decline due to the selloff. Overall, the company has a lot of prospective products from which it can get a big break, but at this point, the stock seems a risky proposition.
