ATLANTA, GA, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- GeoVax Labs, Inc. (OTCQB: GOVX), a biotechnology company developing human vaccines, today is observing National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, a time to focus on how HIV disproportionately affects gay and bisexual men and what they can do to stay healthy.GeoVax is commemorating the dayby celebrating the progress made toward the development of a vaccine against HIV, recognizing the work yet to be done, and bringing attention to the continued HIV epidemic in the United States.
Despite representing only ~ 2% of the U.S. population, MSM (men who have sex with men) accounted for 67% of new diagnoses of HIV infection in 2016. According to a recent report from the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), during 2008–2016, the number of annual new diagnoses decreased4% per year among MSM aged 30–49 years and was stable among those aged 50 years and older. Sadly, the number increased3% per year among MSM aged 13–29 years.
GeoVax recognizes the tremendous progress made in HIV awareness and treatment over the past three decades. However, despite the availability of effective HIV medications and the best efforts of community education and prevention efforts, the tide of new HIV infections has not been reversed, and in fact continues to increase in the younger age groups. Historically, most infectious diseases that have been successfully tackled have been associated with a vaccine (e.g. smallpox, polio, yellow fever, diphtheria, measles, mumps, whooping cough), therefore our HIV vaccine development remains an important mission and commitment for our company.
GeoVax is committed to an AIDS-free generation through vaccine development. Our HIV vaccine candidate 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.