Maxim Group analyst Jason Kolbert reiterated a Buy rating and $6 price target on Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: INO) following Q1 results. The company posted revenues of $2.4M versus operating expenses of $12M and had $117M in cash and cash equivalents at the quarter's end.

On upcoming data, Kolbert notes, "As the company draws closer to phase II proof-of-concept results in the VGX-3100 trial, we believe the probability of a positive outcome is rising. The amount of antidotal data suggests that Inovio’s combination of vaccine and electroporation delivery does deliver robust T-cell responses. As such, we are lowering our risk rate marginally from 30% to 15%."

He added, " Inovio previously reported that its SynCon immunotherapy against HPV-caused pre-cancers and cancers (VGX-3100), delivered with its CELLECTRA electroporation device, achieved best-in-class T-cell immune responses that generated a strong killing effect against cells targeted by this therapeutic vaccine. Inovio has completed enrollment in the phase II trial (HPV-003) focused on cervical dysplasia and expects to report unblinded efficacy and immune response data in mid-2014. Inovio has initiated preparatory activities for a potential phase III study and also plans to initiate phase I/IIa studies of VGX-3100 against HPV-caused cervical cancer and head and neck cancer in 2014."

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Shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals closed at $2.16 yesterday.