Investors who bought stocks during the COVID-19 market crash of 2020 have generally made some big gains over the past two and a half years.

But there was no question that some big-name stocks have outperformed others since the pandemic bottomed out.

Inovio’s Bumpy Ride: One company that has been a disappointing investment so far is biotech stocks Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc IN O.

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Almost all of the headlines about Inovio for the past two years have revolved around the company’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Investors had high hopes for it in 2020 as several companies battled to be among the first to produce effective vaccines for COVID-19.

Unfortunately, Inovio’s investors were reeling in September 2020 when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration partially suspended Phase 2 and 3 trials of Inovio’s vaccine candidate INO-4800. Back then, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had concerns about the study and the device used to administer the vaccine to patients. The phase 2 study was unlocked after approximately six weeks, but the phase 3 study was locked for more than a year.

Finally, in November 2021, almost a year later, the FDA lifted the ban on the phase 3 trial Moderna Inc MRNA, Pfizer Inc. PFE and Johnson&Johnson JNJ received the first batch of FDA approvals for COVID-19 vaccines.

Inovio initially sought to further develop INO-4800 as a COVID-19 booster to be paired with an approved primary vaccine. However, the company pulled the plug on INO-4800 booster development in October 2022, bringing investors back to square one.

Related link: If you had invested $1,000 in Rithm Capital (RITM) stock at its COVID-19 pandemic low, here is what you would have now:

At the beginning of 2020, Inovio shares were trading at around $3.39. As the COVID-19 pandemic began, the stock traded as low as $3.14 on February 7, 2020 before investors realized the potential…