At Least 6 Companies Working on COVID Vaccines in San Diego

(June 24, 2020) - At least six companies are working on COVID-19 vaccine candidates in San Diego, all within a 1.5-mile radius of where the I-5 and I-805 split.

Locally, the farthest along appears to be Inovio Pharmaceuticals, which plans to launch a Phase 2 trial next month, potentially with a simultaneous Phase 3 trial. A Phase 3 trial is the final step in vaccine testing, with thousands of participants.

The company is developing the vaccine using a DNA technique that isn’t used in any other vaccines on the market, although some are in the final stages of testing, said Dr. Kate Broderick, who leads Inovio’s vaccine program.