Inovio to Lay Off 18% of Staff after COVID Shot Struggles

Inovio said Tuesday it will cut 18% of its workforce and 86% of its contractors as the company looks to reduce expenses after high-profile challenges in its efforts to produce a COVID-19 vaccine. CEO Jacqueline Shea said the reorganization will help Inovio focus on its lead programs, which include the COVID-19 vaccine and a medicine to treat HPV-associated precancerous cervical dysplasia. Inovio’s share price soared in the spring and summer of 2020 as the company leaped into development of a coronavirus vaccine.