via NewMediaWire –
GeoVax Labs, Inc. (NasdaqCM: GOVX, GOVXW)
(“GeoVax” or the “Company”), a biotechnology company developing
human immunotherapies and vaccines against infectious diseases and
cancer, today announced the signing of a Patent and Biological
Materials License Agreement (the “License Agreement”) with the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part
of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in support of GeoVax’s
development of a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that
causes COVID-19. The Patent License Agreement to GeoVax includes
access to NIAID’s patent rights in the stabilized SPIKE protein,
which is the protein that SARS-CoV-2 uses to gain entry into human
tissue.
The License Agreement allows GeoVax to use these materials and
patent rights owned by agencies of the United States Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) in combination with the Company’s
proprietary technology for the creation of a preventive Modified
Vaccinia Ankara Virus-Virus Like Particle (MVA-VLP) vaccine that
primes and/or boosts the immune system against COVID-19. The
agreement provides GeoVax with nonexclusive rights to develop,
manufacture and commercialize its COVID-19 vaccine. Financial terms
of the License Agreement were not disclosed.
David Dodd, GeoVax President and CEO, commented, “The signing of
this license agreement with NIAID is an important event for our
ongoing COVID-19 vaccine development program and is reflective of
our optimism and commitment to rapidly advancing the program. This
agreement includes the commercialization rights to the NIH MVA
backbone for our SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, arising from the laboratory of
Dr. Bernard Moss of the NIAID Laboratory of Viral Diseases (LVD).
GeoVax applauds the career and long-term research contributions to
antiviral vaccine backbones made by Dr. Bernard Moss and others in
his laboratory.”
To date, GeoVax has designed and constructed four COVID-19
vaccine candidates, with the goal that one will provide a
single-dose, universal vaccine effective against multiple
coronavirus strains. Preclinical small animal studies for the first
candidate are currently being conducted in collaboration with
researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
(UTMB), and the Company intends to accelerate small animal testing
with initial results expected soon. In addition, GeoVax continues
active discussions and negotiations related to additional funding
support, as well as securing the necessary manufacturing resources
to proceed into clinical development as soon as
possible.
Mr. Dodd added, “We anticipate that multiple COVID-19 vaccines
will be necessary for the goal of broad public health protection,
especially in addressing the preventive needs among populations
with compromised immune systems, including people with
co-morbidities and older adults. The GV-MVA-VLPTM platform,
with the established and recognized history of the safety of MVA
and other potential efficacy, durability and manufacturing
attributes, if successfully developed, will become a critical
vaccine to address COVID-19 and potentially related infectious
threats.”
About COVID-19
Coronaviruses are common in many species of animals, including
bats and birds. These viruses can evolve to cross the animal
species and infect humans and quickly spread from person to person
resulting in lethal but rare respiratory infections. Recent
epidemics with SARS and MERS coronaviruses resulted in 774 and 858
deaths, respectively. Since 2015 there have not been any cases of
SARS and MERS reported, but in January 2020, World Health
Organization (WHO) identified a novel coronavirus, recently named
SARS-CoV-2, in the city of Wuhan, China. On January 31, 2020 the
WHO declared the novel coronavirus to be a global health emergency,
and on March 11, 2020 the WHO declared a global pandemic.
Worldwide, more than 41 million people have been infected (over 8.3
million in the U.S.), with more than 1.1 million deaths (over
200,000 in the U.S). The situation is fluid, with the infection and
death statistics changing significantly on a regular basis.
About GeoVax
GeoVax Labs, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company
developing human vaccines against infectious diseases and cancer
using a novel patented Modified Vaccinia Ankara-Virus Like Particle
(MVA-VLP) based vaccine platform. On this platform, MVA, a large
viral vector capable of carrying several vaccine antigens,
expresses proteins that assemble into VLP immunogens within (in
vivo) the person receiving the vaccine. The production of VLPs in
the person being vaccinated mimics virus production in a natural
infection, stimulating both the humoral and cellular arms of the
immune system to recognize, prevent, and control the target
infection. The MVA-VLP derived vaccines can elicit durable immune
responses in the host similar to a live-attenuated virus, while
providing the safety characteristics of a replication-defective
vector.
GeoVax’s current development programs are focused on preventive
vaccines against COVID-19, HIV, Zika Virus, hemorrhagic fever
viruses (Ebola, Sudan, Marburg, and Lassa), and malaria, as well as
therapeutic vaccines against multiple cancers. The Company has
designed a preventive HIV vaccine candidate to fight against the
subtype of HIV prevalent in the commercial markets of the Americas,
Western Europe, Japan, and Australia. Human clinical trials for our
program have been conducted and managed in the United States by the
HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) with the support of the National
Institutes of Health (NIH). GeoVax’s HIV vaccine candidate is also
part of two separate collaborative efforts to apply its innovative
gene therapy approach toward a functional cure for HIV.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements regarding the
recent license granted to GeoVax by the NIH and GeoVax’s products
under development. The words “believe,” “may,” “estimate,”
“continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “should,” “plan,” “could,”
“target,” “potential,” “is likely,” “will,” “expect” and similar
expressions, as they relate to us, are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking
statements largely based on our plans regarding products under
development, our financial condition, results of operations,
business strategy and financial needs. Actual results may
differ materially from these statements due to a variety of
factors, including whether: GeoVax can develop and manufacture its
vaccines with the desired characteristics in a timely manner,
GeoVax’s vaccines will be safe for human use, GeoVax’s vaccines
will effectively prevent targeted infections in humans, GeoVax’s
vaccines will receive regulatory approvals necessary to be licensed
and marketed, GeoVax raises required capital to complete vaccine
development, there is development of competitive products that may
be more effective or easier to use than GeoVax’s products, GeoVax
will be able to enter into favorable manufacturing and distribution
agreements, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues, and
other factors, over which GeoVax has no control.
Further information on our risk factors is contained in our
registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-239958) that we
have filed with the SEC and the final prospectus. Any
forward-looking statement made by us herein speaks only as of the
date on which it is made. Factors or events that could cause our
actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is
not possible for us to predict all of them. We undertake no
obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement,
whether as a result of new information, future developments or
otherwise, except as may be required by law.
Contact:GeoVax Labs,
Inc.investor@geovax.com678-384-7220
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