Risk of Oral HPV Among Female Adolescents - Physician's Weekly

Posted: 09 Apr 2020 12:00 AM PDT

Recent studies indicate that the incidence of oropharyngeal cancers increased more than 200% in the US between 1988 and 2004. As the most common sexually transmitted infection in adolescent and young adult women, human papillomaviruses (HPV) are responsible for nearly all cervical cancers and most anal and oropharyngeal cancers. For a study published in JAMA Network Open, Nicolas Schlecht, PhD, Angela Diaz, MD, PhD, Robert Burk, MD, and colleagues sought to assess the risk factors for oral HPV, as well as the association of HPV vaccination with HPV prevalence in the oral cavity, in sexually active female adolescents receiving the quadrivalent (4vHPV) vaccine.

The researchers tested for HPV DNA through an oral rinse among more than 1,200 women who participated in repeated collection of oral rinse specimens over 10 years. Participants at time of enrollment were aged 13 to 21 (median age, 18) and planning to or already had received the HPV vaccine. Upon entry in the study, participants were asked about sexual behaviors, including number and type of sexual partners. Study authors also collected data on other sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancies, short- and long-term contraceptive use, tobacco smoking, and alcohol, marijuana, and other drug use. Follow-up visits occurred every 6 months until age 25 to obtain samples for HPV testing, and self-reported sexual history questionnaires. DNA from samples was tested for more than 40 types of HPV associated with infecting mucosal tissue.

HPV Numbers

Among participants, the average age of first sexual activity was 14. At the time of enrollment, 69.7% had at least three sexual partners. The HPV detection rate from initial oral rinse samples was 6.2%; 1.7% were oncogenic types and 0.2% were 4vHPV types. "While our study population had a higher average number of sexual partners and an earlier sexual debut on average compared with participants in previous studies, detection of 4vHPV vaccine types (HPV types 6, 11, 16, 18) was significantly lower among vaccinated women when compared with unvaccinated women," explains Dr. Schlecht. The highest prevalence of oral HVP detection was at age 16 (10.5% for all types, 3.9% for oncogenic types). "The majority of oral HPV that was detected was cleared within 12 months, reflecting the transient nature of these infections," adds Dr. Schlecht.

Detection of an HVP infection in the cervix increased the tendency for HPV identification in the oral cavity. Although no significant association was seen between giving or receiving oral sex and HPV detection, a strong connection was seen between years of sexual activity and HPV detection.

Prevalence of Vaccination & Infection

When enrolled, 15.3% of participants had not received the 4vHPV vaccine. To compare vaccinated versus unvaccinated participants, Dr. Schlecht and colleagues used a multivariable logistic regression approach, adjusting for years since first sexual activity and concurrent detection of 4vHPV types in the cervix (Table). Participants who had received at least one dose of the 4vHPV vaccine were 83% less likely to have a 4vHPV type detected in the oral cavity compared with unvaccinated participants.

"These findings parallel our earlier observations with cervical and anal HPV," notes Dr. Schlecht. "Detection of HPV in the oral cavity is not uncommon in sexually active adolescent females, but decreases with age and time since onset of sexual activity. Continued research is needed to determine whether the additional types targeted by the new 9-valent vaccine will also decrease, and whether vaccination reduces the incidence and persistence of oral HPV vaccine types. Similar studies in adolescent males are also needed."

References

Risk of Oral Human Papillomavirus Infection Among Sexually Active Female Adolescents Receiving the Quadrivalent Vaccine

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6822084/

INOVIO to Report First Quarter 2020 Financial Results on May 11, 2020 - Indiana Gazette

Posted: 27 Apr 2020 05:00 AM PDT

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., April 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- INOVIO (NASDAQ:INO) announced today that first quarter 2020 financial results will be released after the market close on May 11, 2020. Following the release, the Company will host a live conference call and webcast at 4:30 p.m. ET to discuss financial results and provide a general business update, including the company's ongoing vaccine developments for COVID-19.

A live and archived version of the audio presentation will be available online at http://ir.inovio.com/investors/events/default.aspx. This is a listen-only event but will include a live Q&A with analysts.

Telephone replay will be available approximately one hour after the call at 877-344-7529 (US toll free) or 412-317-0088 (international toll) using replay access code 10143530.

About INOVIO

INOVIO is a biotechnology company focused on rapidly bringing to market precisely designed DNA medicines to potentially treat and protect people from diseases associated with HPV, cancer, and infectious diseases. INOVIO is the first and only company to have clinically demonstrated that a DNA medicine can be delivered directly into cells in the body via a proprietary smart device to produce a robust and tolerable immune response. Specifically, INOVIO's lead candidate VGX-3100, currently in Phase 3 trials for precancerous cervical dysplasia, destroyed and cleared high-risk HPV 16 and 18 in a Phase 2b clinical trial. High-risk HPV is responsible for 70% of cervical cancer, 91% of anal cancer, and 69% of vulvar cancer. Also in development are programs targeting HPV-related cancers and a rare HPV-related disease, recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP); non-HPV-related cancers glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and prostate cancer; as well as externally funded infectious disease DNA vaccine development programs in Zika, Lassa fever, Ebola, HIV, and coronaviruses associated with MERS and COVID-19 diseases. Partners and collaborators include Advaccine, ApolloBio Corporation, AstraZeneca, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)/Department of Defense (DOD), GeneOne Life Science/VGXI, HIV Vaccines Trial Network, International Vaccine Institute (IVI), Medical CBRN Defense Consortium (MCDC), National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Ology Bioservices, Plumbline Life Sciences, Regeneron, Richter-Helm, Roche/Genentech, University of Pennsylvania, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and The Wistar Institute. INOVIO also is a proud recipient of 2020 Women on Boards "W" designation recognizing companies with more than 20% women on their board of directors. For more information, visit www.inovio.com.

CONTACTS:

Investors: Ben Matone, 484-362-0076, ben.matone@inovio.com
Media: Jeff Richardson, 267-440-4211, jrichardson@inovio.com

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to INOVIO's business, including our plans to develop DNA medicines, our expectations regarding our research and development programs, as well as commercialization activities, including the planned initiation and conduct of clinical trials, the availability and timing of data from those trials and our commercialization strategy and tactics. Actual events or results may differ from the expectations set forth herein as a result of a number of factors, including uncertainties inherent in preclinical studies, clinical trials, product development programs and commercialization activities and outcomes, the availability of funding to support continuing research and studies in an effort to prove safety and efficacy of electroporation technology as a delivery mechanism or develop viable DNA medicines, our ability to support our pipeline of DNA medicine products, the ability of our collaborators to attain development and commercial milestones for products we license and product sales that will enable us to receive future payments and royalties, the adequacy of our capital resources, the availability or potential availability of alternative therapies or treatments for the conditions targeted by us or our collaborators, including alternatives that may be more efficacious or cost effective than any therapy or treatment that we and our collaborators hope to develop, issues involving product liability, issues involving patents and whether they or licenses to them will provide us with meaningful protection from others using the covered technologies, whether such proprietary rights are enforceable or defensible or infringe or allegedly infringe on rights of others or can withstand claims of invalidity and whether we can finance or devote other significant resources that may be necessary to prosecute, protect or defend them, the level of corporate expenditures, assessments of our technology by potential corporate or other partners or collaborators, capital market conditions, the impact of government healthcare proposals and other factors set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, and other filings we make from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There can be no assurance that any product candidate in our pipeline will be successfully developed, manufactured or commercialized, that final results of clinical trials will be supportive of regulatory approvals required to market products, or that any of the forward-looking information provided herein will be proven accurate. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise these statements, except as may be required by law.