ATLANTA, GA, Oct. 15, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- GeoVax Labs, Inc. (OTCQB: GOVX), a biotechnology company developing human vaccines, today is observing National Latinx AIDS Awareness Day, a time to focus on the continuing and disproportionate impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) on Hispanics/Latinos in the United States.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the prevalence of diagnosed HIV infection among Hispanics/Latinos is approximately twice that among non-Hispanic whites, accounting for 26% of all HIV diagnoses in the U.S. during 2016. Furthermore, the percentage of persons with diagnosed infection who are virally suppressed is lower among Hispanics/Latinos than among non-Hispanic whites. Stigma, language barriers, and limited access to healthcare are among the factors contributing to the higher rates of HIV infection in this community. Additional information from the CDC is available at https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/group/racialethnic/hispaniclatinos/index.html.
GeoVax is committed to an AIDS-free generation through vaccine development. Our HIV vaccine candidate (GOVX-B11) is currently progressing through human clinical trials conducted by the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) with support from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). We at GeoVax will not be satisfied until there exists a successful preventive vaccine available to address this continued major healthcare issue. To learn more about our work to fight HIV and other diseases, visit www.geovax.com.
About GeoVax
GeoVax Labs, Inc., is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing human vaccines against infectious diseases using its Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) Virus-Like Particle (VLP) platform, which generates noninfectious VLPs in the individual being vaccinated. GeoVax was the winner of the 2018 “Best Biotech” Vaccine Industry Excellence Awards, a finalist for the 2018 “Best Prophylactic Vaccine” Award for its Zika vaccine at the World Vaccine Congress, as well as a finalist for Pipelines of Promise at Buzz of Bio 2018. The Company’s development programs are focused on vaccines against HIV, Zika, hemorrhagic fever viruses (Ebola, Sudan, Marburg, Lassa) and malaria. GeoVax also is evaluating the use of its MVA-VLP platform in cancer immunotherapy, and for therapeutic use in chronic Hepatitis B infections.