INO

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

A maker of DNA-based vaccines and medicines that teach the body's own cells to fight disease. The company designs synthetic DNA instructions and delivers them with its hand-held CELLECTRA device, whose brief electrical pulses open tiny pores in cells to target cancers and HPV-related conditions. Founded in 1983 as Biotechnologies & Experimental Research, it later operated as Genetronics and took its current name after acquiring the Norwegian gene-delivery firm Inovio in 2005.