Inovio Pharmaceuticals (INO) has now initiated legal proceedings as an emergency action to compel the technology transfer required for the planned large-scale manufacture of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.The company has an ambitious goal of producing one million doses of INO-4800 by the end of 2020, with its existing capacity and contract resources, for further clinical trials or emergency use.To fulfil this goal, INO has filed a complaint in Pennsylvania to compel VGXI, Inc. and GeneOne Life Science to facilitate the transfer of manufacturing methods, using VGXI’s technology, to the company’s new engaged contract manufacturers.“The Company believes that widespread availability of its potential COVID-19 vaccine, which can only be achieved through accelerated large-scale manufacture following clinical trials and regulatory approval, is essential to combat the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic” INO states.Under the companies’ Supply Agreement, VGXI produces and supplies the DNA plasmids for the INO’s research and early clinical trials for its product candidates.However VGXI allegedly informed Inovio that it did not have the capacity to manufacture the full order of DNA plasmids on the requested timeline, nor would it be able to manufacture plasmids for the commercial sale of INO-4800, if the vaccine were approved.It subsequently refused to transfer the technology to INO’s third party contract manufacturers.In January 2020, INO began preclinical studies of INO-4800, and in April it received approval from the U.S. FDA to begin a Phase 1 clinical trial of INO-4800. If the initial safety and immunogenicity data from the Phase 1 trial are acceptable, INO plans to advance the development of INO-4800 into later-stage efficacy trials in the second half of 2020.In a further dose of bad news, Inovio has not been selected by the Trump administration as one of the five companies picked to develop a COVID-19 vaccine as part of the government’s Warp Speed operation. The companies selected will receive additional government funding, assistance in clinical development and manufacturing to ensure the availability of two hundred million doses by YE2020.“Given INO’s notable omission from this list, we see these developments as a negative read-through to INO shares, though we would await a formal announcement, given INO’s need for external funding in further clinical development and manufacturing scale-up of their ph.I candidate, INO-4800” commented RBC Capital analyst Gregory Renza. Indeed, shares fell 13% on June 3, and are now falling 5% in Thursday’s pre-market trading.However the anlayst adds “While the news can be seen as initially disappointing… we think the announcement would not preclude INO from an ultimately successful development of a COVID-19 vaccine as they continue to leverage external funding support funding and maintain active engagement with gov’t agencies and other funders.”Renza reiterated his Hold rating on the stock with a $10 price target (20% downside potential) on June 3. INO stock has exploded over 270% year-to-date, and analysts have a cautiously optimistic Moderate Buy consensus on the stock’s outlook. That’s with a $17 average analyst price target for further upside potential of 34%. (See INO stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: 5 Covid-19 Vaccines Picked For Trump’s Operation Warp Speed Inovio’s COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Has the Edge Over Moderna’s, Says 5-Star Analyst Novavax Seeks To Make 1 Billion Covid-19 Vaccine Doses More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * S&P; Cuts American Airlines’ Credit Rating To 'B-' from 'B' On Cash Flow Deficit Concern * FedEx Adding Temporary Surcharges As Covid-19 Pressures Mount * Uber CEO Reveals Pickup In May Rides As Covid-19 Restrictions Ease * Billionaire Investor Dan Loeb’s Fund Lists Boeing As Top Winner In May
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Starting June 8, FedEx (FDX) has announced that it will start implementing a number of surcharges, including a temporary surcharge on FedEx SmartPost packages of $0.4/ package, as it deals with the fallout from Covid-19.For customers at the enterprise level, U.S. domestic residential FedEx Express and FedEx Ground packageswill face a surcharge of $0.3/ package, while Oversize U.S. domestic FedEx Express and FedEx Ground packages will now need to cough up an extra $30/ package.“As the impact of the virus continues to generate a surge in residential deliveries and has also generated a surge in oversize, hard-to-handle packages, we have experienced increased operating costs across our network” the company explained.“To continue providing our customers with strong levels of service during this time, we are implementing temporary peak surcharges” FedEx stated, arguing that it provides an essential business keeping commerce moving and delivering critical shipments during this challenging time.Indeed, FedEx rival UPS (UPS) has already implemented peak surcharges on certain U.S. domestic packages starting from May 31, and effective until further notice. “Our goal is to ensure businesses and customers are able to meet their shipping needs while demand has increased for shipping services” the company explained at the time.A $0.30 peak surcharge now applies to certain UPS Ground Residential and UPS SurePost packages if customer’s (like Amazon, Best Buy and Target) average weekly volume exceeds 25,000 packages.Shares in FedEx are currently trading down 9% year-to-date. Analysts have a cautiously optimistic Moderate Buy consensus on the stock, with 10 recent buy ratings offset by 8 hold ratings. More worryingly, the average analyst price target of $135 indicates 2% downside potential from current levels. (See FDX stock analysis on TipRanks).Morgan Stanley’s Ravi Shanker has just reiterated his hold rating on FedEx, citing unprecedented pressures from Covid-19 including sharp declines in B2B and International volumes, elevated costs and one fewer working day.Related News: Zoom Lifts Full-Year Sales Guidance As Quarterly Revenue Balloons 169% Billionaire Ackman Exits Berkshire Hathaway, Blackstone To Fund Opportunities Amazon Leases 12 Boeing Cargo Aircraft To Meet Online Orders Surge More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * AstraZeneca Partners With Accent To Develop Novel Cancer Treatments * Nio Rising On Record-High Monthly Deliveries, Goldman Sachs Upgrade * Inovio Suing Suppliers Over Covid-19 Vaccine Production * S&P; Cuts American Airlines’ Credit Rating To 'B-' from 'B' On Cash Flow Deficit Concern