Atlanta, GA / ACCESSWIRE / July 16, 2014 / GeoVax Labs, Inc. (OTCQB: GOVX), a biotechnology company developing vaccines to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, announced today it has received a Notice of Award from the U.S. National Institutes of Health for a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant entitled "Enhancing Protective Antibody Responses for a GM-CSF Adjuvanted HIV Vaccine." The grant award of approximately $290,000 is for the second year of a two-year project period.
This grant will support the continuation of preclinical studies evaluating the ability of protein boosts to augment antibody responses that can block virus infections (neutralizing antibody) and cause antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC antibody). The protein boosts are testing gp120 in alum and MVA-expressed gp140 subunits of the HIV envelope.
Harriet Robinson, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of GeoVax, commented, "These studies are part of the pipeline we are creating for our GOVX-B11 Clade B HIV vaccine that we are advancing in clinical trials for the developed world. We have made excellent progress during the first year of this grant and are pleased that the NIH has awarded the Year 2 funds. The data generated by these studies will be important for understanding how subunit protein boosts affect the specificity and durability of antibody responses elicited by GOVX-B11."
About GeoVax
GeoVax Labs, Inc. is a biotechnology company developing vaccines to prevent and treat Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infections. GeoVax's unique, two component vaccine, a recombinant DNA and a recombinant modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA), is designed to stimulate both anti-HIV T cell and anti-HIV antibody immune responses. GeoVax's DNA and MVA vaccines are used in a prime/boost protocol in which priming is done with the DNA and boosting with the MVA. Both the DNA and MVA express the three major proteins of the AIDS virus: Gag, Pol, and Env, and produce non-infectious virus-like-particles. GeoVax's vaccines are unique in expressing virus-like particles that display the trimeric membrane bound form of the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein. GeoVax's vaccines are currently undergoing evaluation in human clinical trials for both preventive and therapeutic applications. Clinical trials for GeoVax's preventive HIV vaccines have been conducted by the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) with funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID). Overall, GeoVax's vaccines, in various doses and combinations, have been tested in close to 500 humans. For more information, please visit http://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 HIV/AIDS in humans, 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, 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 under "Risk Factors" in GeoVax's Form 10-K.
Contact:
Adam Holdsworth
ProActive Capital Group
646-862-4607
http://www.proactivecapital.com/
SOURCE: GeoVax Labs Inc.