BANGALORE, July 29 (Reuters) – Inovio Biomedical Corp said its DNA-based H1N1 flu vaccines provided protection against the swine flu strain in pigs and mice, triggering a near four-fold rise in its shares.

The vaccine was designed to protect against an H1N1 strain of swine flu that circulated before the current pandemic strain — which the company says suggests its vaccine is a so-called universal flu vaccine, one that would not need to be re-formulated every year as viruses mutate.

The positive news from Inovio served as a booster shot for stock prices of other flu vaccine makers such as Novavax Inc ( NVAX – news - people ) and Vical Inc. ( VICL – news - people )

‘H1N1 is not going away. So when you are talking about some unexpected positive development, it just refocuses everyone’s attention on this,’ WBB Securities analyst Steve Brozak said.

DNA vaccines use bits of genetic material called plasmids. They are meant to generate an immune response against a specific bit of the virus and are designed to last longer than standard vaccines under conditions of heat and cold.

Shares of the company were trading up $2.21 at $2.89 Wednesday on the American Stock Exchange.

Shares of Vical were trading up about 5 percent at $4.04, while shares of Novavax were trading up 15 percent at $4.91 on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Anuradha Ramanathan in Bangalore; Editing by Anil D’Silva) Keywords: INOVIOBIOMEDICAL/

(anuradha.ramanathan@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780; outside U.S. +91 80 4135 5800: Reuters Messaging: anuradha.ramanathan.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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