ATLANTA, GA. , May 30, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GeoVax Labs, Inc. (OTCQB: GOVX), winner of the 2018 “Best Biotech” Vaccine Industry Excellence Award at the World Vaccine Congress, announced today that it will be presenting its latest data in a late-breaking poster presentation during the 2018 American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Microbe Conference, being held June 7-11, 2018 in Atlanta, GA.
Two presentations will be given during the ASM conference, entitled:
1. Development of Vaccines from A to Z, for AIDS and Zika and Many More in Between, Using a Novel MVA Vector Platform Technology, and
2. Development of Single-Dose Vaccines for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Preclinical Data for Novel Ebola, Lassa fever and Zika Vaccines
A significant unmet medical need exists for vaccine platform technologies to respond rapidly and effectively against biological threats. Preferably, such platforms should deliver vaccines that are safe and confer full protection after a single dose.
During the conference, GeoVax scientists will discuss its flexible technology platform that integrates its recombinant Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vector with advanced antigen design (Virus-Like Particle, VLP) and state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies. Preclinical and clinical studies, supported with funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and performed at laboratories of the Centers for Disease Control, (CDC) in Fort Collins, CO, Institute of Human Virology, University of MD and NIH’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories have demonstrated the broad utility of the platform, especially to deliver single-dose vaccines for emerging infectious diseases such as Zika, Lassa fever and Ebola.
GeoVax will present proof-of-concept studies for three independent vaccines against three different family of viruses. The Company has demonstrated full protection after a single dose using various preclinical lethal challenge models.
Unlike other vaccine technologies currently available, which sacrifice confidence in success for speed or vice-versa, GeoVax’s technology platform offers a true “Plug and Play” approach that is well suited for use against a wide range of biological threats and amenable to rapid, large-scale production. Vaccines produced in this platform are safe, highly immunogenic, and effective against a wide range of indications. Furthermore, they are suitable for repeated use, stable at refrigerator temperatures or lyophilized for non-cold chain needle-free application, and amenable to rapid and affordable scale-up for use in both epidemic response and routine vaccination. “These data demonstrate a broad utility of the platform especially for development of single-dose vaccines against infectious diseases suited to combat epidemic in resource constrained countries”, commented Dr. Farshad Guirakhoo, Chief Scientific Officer at GeoVax.
In addition to vaccines against emerging infectious diseases being discussed at the conference, GeoVax is developing prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines for other infectious disease as well as cancer. These include prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines for HIV (already in advanced clinical trials), preventive vaccines for Marburg, Sudan and Malaria, all with major epidemic potential with high human lethality, as well as therapeutic vaccines for chronic hepatitis B infections and tumor-associated antigen (TAA)-based-cancer vaccines.
About GeoVax
GeoVax Labs, Inc., is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing human vaccines against infectious diseases using its MVA-VLP vaccine platform. GeoVax was the winner of the 2018 “Best Biotech” Vaccine Industry Excellence Awards at the World Vaccine Congress as well as a finalist for the 2018 “Best Prophylactic Vaccine” Award for its Zika vaccine. 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. GeoVax’s vaccine platform supports in vivo production of non-infectious VLPs from the cells of the very 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. For more information, visit www.geovax.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this document are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may differ materially from those included in 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, and other factors, over which GeoVax has no control. GeoVax assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, and does not intend to do so. More information about these factors is contained in GeoVax's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including those set forth at "Risk Factors" in GeoVax's Form 10-K.