INOVIO PHARMACEUTICALS INC

Securities Litigation

Securities Class Action Litigation

In March 2020, a purported shareholder class action complaint, McDermid v. Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and J. Joseph Kim, was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, naming the Company and its former President and Chief Executive Officer as defendants. The lawsuit alleged that the Company made materially false and misleading statements in violation of certain federal securities laws. The plaintiffs sought unspecified monetary damages on behalf of the putative class and an award of costs and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees. The plaintiffs’ complaint was later amended to include certain of the Company’s other officers as defendants. After additional motions were filed in the case, in June 2022 the parties negotiated an agreement in principle to settle the shareholder class action complaint, which was approved by the court in January 2023. Under the settlement, we agreed to pay $30.0 million in cash and $14.0 million in shares of its common stock to settle all outstanding claims. Our insurance carriers paid the $30.0 million cash component of the settlement. During the three months ended March 31, 2023, we issued 760,083 shares of common stock pursuant to the securities class action settlement.

Shareholder Derivative Litigation

In April 2020, a purported shareholder derivative complaint, Behesti v. Kim, et al., was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, naming eight current and former directors of the Company as defendants. The lawsuit asserted state and federal claims and was based on the same alleged misstatements as the shareholder class action complaint described above. The lawsuit accused the Company’s board of directors of failing to exercise reasonable and prudent supervision over our management, policies, practices, and internal controls. The plaintiff sought unspecified monetary damages on behalf of the Company as well as governance reforms. Between June 2020 and August 2020, additional shareholder derivative complaints were filed and later consolidated by the court.

In March 2022, an additional shareholder derivative complaint was filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery, asserting substantially similar claims as those in the consolidated derivative action. In May 2022, the Delaware Court of Chancery entered a stay of the litigation.

In March 2023, the parties submitted a joint status report to the Court of Chancery reporting that the parties agreed to a settlement in principle, which also provided for the resolution of the consolidated derivative action and certain stockholder demands.

In April 2023, the plaintiffs in the consolidated derivative action filed a motion for preliminary approval of settlement with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The proposed settlement provided for resolution of the consolidated derivative action, the derivative action pending in the Delaware Court of Chancery, and certain stockholder demands.

In June 2023, the court entered an order preliminarily approving the proposed settlement of the derivative claims, in accordance with a Stipulation of Settlement. The Stipulation of Settlement contemplated that, following the settlement hearing and the final approval of the settlement by the court, we would implement certain corporate governance reforms described in the Stipulation of Settlement. The preliminary order also approved the form and manner of the notice of the Settlement. As part of the Settlement, in July 2023 we paid $1.2 million to plaintiffs’ counsel for their fees and expenses. In October 2023, the court entered an order and final judgment approving the Settlement, which became effective in November 2023. The Company has implemented the corporate governance reforms in response to the provisions of the Stipulation of Settlement.

VGXI Litigation

In June 2020, we filed a complaint in the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania against VGXI, Inc. and GeneOne Life Science, Inc., or GeneOne, and together with VGXI, Inc. collectively referred to as VGXI, alleging that VGXI had materially breached our supply agreement with them. The complaint seeks declaratory judgments, specific performance of the agreement, injunctive relief, an accounting, damages, attorneys’ fees, interest, costs and other relief from VGXI. In June 2020, the Company filed a petition for preliminary injunction, which was denied.

Following our appeal, in July 2020 VGXI filed counterclaims against us, alleging that we had breached the supply agreement, as well as misappropriation of trade secrets and unjust enrichment. The counterclaims seek injunctive relief, damages, attorneys’ fees, interest, costs and other relief from us. VGXI also filed a third-party complaint against Ology Bioservices, Inc., a contract manufacturing organization that we had engaged to provide services similar to those that were being provided by VGXI. We filed an answer to VGXI’s counterclaims, disputing the allegations and the claims raised in VGXI’s filing. In October 2020, we filed a notice of discontinuance of appeal with the Pennsylvania Superior Court. A trial date for the litigation has not been set.

We intend to aggressively prosecute the claims set forth in its complaint against VGXI and to vigorously defend ourselves against VGXI’s counterclaims.

GeneOne Litigation

In December 2020, GeneOne filed a complaint in the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania against us, alleging that we had breached the CELLECTRA Device License Agreement, or the Agreement, between us and GeneOne. We terminated the Agreement in October 2020. The complaint asserts claims for breach of contract, declaratory judgment, unfair competition, and unjust enrichment. The complaint seeks injunctive relief, an accounting, damages, disgorgement of profits, attorneys’ fees, interest, and other relief from us. We filed preliminary objections to the complaint, which were overruled. In September 2021, we filed an answer to the complaint, new matter, and counterclaims. Our counterclaims allege that GeneOne breached the Agreement, and assert claims for breach of contract and declaratory judgment. The counterclaims seek damages, interest, expenses, attorney’s fees, and costs. On October 18, 2021, GeneOne filed its answer to our counterclaims and new matter. A trial date for this litigation has not been set.

We intend to aggressively prosecute the claims set forth in our counterclaims against GeneOne and to vigorously defend ourselves against the claims in GeneOne’s complaint.