GeoVax Developing a Tetravalent Vaccine to Protect Against Multiple Viruses, Including Ebola, Marburg and Lassa Fever
ATLANTA, GA--(Marketwired - Feb 29, 2016) - GeoVax Labs, Inc. (OTCQB: GOVX), a biotechnology company developing human vaccines, announced today that it has entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement for Material Transfer with the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) to collaborate on GeoVax's effort to develop a vaccine against hemorrhagic fever viruses.
Pursuant to the agreement, GeoVax and USAMRIID will share materials and related information for in vitro and in vivo assessment of GeoVax's MVA-VLP tetravalent vaccine against Ebola Zaire, Ebola Sudan, Marburg, and Lassa fever viruses.
Researchers at USAMRIID have generated and characterized, in great detail, a wide panel of anti-filovirus and Lassa virus antibodies with different specificities and functionalities. One of these antibodies is now part of ZMapp, an experimental drug comprising three chimeric monoclonal antibodies first tested in humans during the 2014 Ebola epidemic.
Farshad Guirakhoo, PhD, GeoVax's Senior Vice President of Research and Development, commented, "We are truly excited to be able to collaborate with researchers at USAMRIID regarding the characterization of our tetravalent vaccine (TV) candidate against Ebola Zaire, Ebola Sudan, Marburg, and Lassa fever viruses. Monoclonal antibodies generated at USAMRIID are invaluable tools in the determination of the native conformation of critical viral epitopes in our MVA-VLP vaccines, which could be predictive of the vaccine efficacy in humans. Moreover, utilizing a wide array of antibodies recognizing other natural hemorrhagic fever viruses not incorporated in our vaccine will give us confidence, at preclinical stages, that our vaccine will likely generate a broad immune response in humans.
"Our laboratory has been involved in the identification of neutralizing and protective monoclonal antibodies which are important tools for developing vaccines and therapeutics against hemorrhagic viruses. One of these antibodies, which is a component of ZMapp, was used to treat two Americans infected with the Ebola virus," Dr. John Dye, Chief, Viral immunology, USAMRIID, commented.
Robert T. McNally, Ph.D., GeoVax's President and CEO, said, "Media attention on the threat of Ebola virus, or on hemorrhagic fever viruses in general, has obviously waned since the 2014/15 Ebola epidemic has been contained. However, that does not eliminate the need for a safe, effective and broadly protective vaccine to protect against the future outbreaks that are certain to occur. Hemorrhagic fever viruses fatal to humans are endemic to Africa where reservoirs remain in animal hosts such as bats, and as the 2014/15 Ebola epidemic showed, these viruses may quickly spread beyond the borders where the outbreak first begins. We have demonstrated 100% protection in small animal models and are confident further testing in non-human primates will prove our vaccine is robust and worthy of continuing to move forward."
About USAMRIID
The United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases' (USAMRIID) mission is to provide leading-edge medical capabilities to deter and defend against current and emerging biological threat agents. USAMRIID plays a key role as the lead military medical research laboratory for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's Joint Science and Technology Office for Chemical and Biological Defense. USAMRIID is a subordinate laboratory of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command.
About GeoVax
GeoVax Labs, Inc., is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing human vaccines against infectious diseases using its Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara -Virus-Like Particle (MVA-VLP) vaccine platform. The company's most advanced development programs are focused on vaccines against HIV and hemorrhagic fever viruses (Ebola, Marburg, and Lassa fever). GeoVax recently launched two new programs: one to develop a vaccine against Zika virus, and a second to evaluate the use of its MVA-VLP platform in cancer immunotherapy. 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 a natural infection, stimulating both the humoral and cellular arms of the immune system to recognize, prevent, and control the target infection.
Clinical trials for GeoVax's preventive HIV vaccines have been conducted by the NIH-supported HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) with funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID). Overall, GeoVax's HIV vaccines, in various doses and combinations, have been tested in 500 humans with very encouraging results. Currently, GeoVax has the most advanced vaccine against the most prevalent subtype of HIV in North America and Western Europe. The company awaits funding for a Phase 2b efficacy trial to prove the vaccine protects against HIV. 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.
[The information contained in this press release does not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the Government and no official endorsement should be inferred.]
CONTACT INFORMATION
Contact:
Robert T. McNally, Ph.D.
GeoVax Labs, Inc.
[email protected]
678-384-7220