GeoVax Universal Coronavirus Vaccine Design & Development Approach Published in Vaccine Insights
Spotlight Content on Pandemic Preparedness: Getting Ready for the Next “Disease X”
ATLANTA, GA, June 27, 2023 – GeoVax Labs, Inc. (Nasdaq: GOVX), a biotechnology company developing human vaccines and immunotherapies against infectious diseases and cancer, announced today the publication of an article titled, “ MVA-Vectored Universal Beta-Coronavirus Vaccine Design & Development ” in the June 2023 issue of the online journal Vaccine Insights. The article is co-authored by GeoVax’s Chief Scientific Officer, Mark Newman, PhD, together with other GeoVax scientists, Mary Hauser, PhD, Arban Domi, PhD, Sreenivasa Oruganti, PhD, Pratima Kumari, PhD and Ashley Zuniga, PhD and can be accessed here: Vaccine Insights.
The article provides expert insight into the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), the risk of new “spillover events” from animal hosts, and how this risk can be addressed proactively. With regard to COVID-19 and its continually evolving variants, the authors describe the limitations of first-generation vaccines and the potential for MVA-vectored vaccines such as GEO-CM04S1 to overcome these limitations.
A bout GEO-CM04S1
GEO-CM04S1 is a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine based on GeoVax’s MVA viral vector platform, which supports the presentation of multiple vaccine antigens to the immune system in a single dose. CM04S1 presents both the spike and nucleocapsid antigens of SARS-CoV-2 and is specifically designed to induce both antibody and T cell responses to non-variable parts of the virus. The more broadly specific and functional engagement of the immune system is designed to protect against the new and continually emerging variants of COVID-19. Based on data from animal models and a completed Phase 1 clinical study, vaccine-induced immune responses were shown to recognize both early and later variants of SARS-CoV-2, including the Omicron variant. Vaccines of this format should not require repeated modification and updating.
A recent presentation of unpublished data from the open-label portion of the Phase 2 trial of CM04S1 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04977024 ) in patients undergoing hematological cancer treatment (i.e., patients who have reduced immune system function as a result of treatment ) indicates that CM04S1 is highly immunogenic in these patients, inducing both antibody responses, including neutralizing antibodies, and T cell responses. These data support the planned progression of the Phase 2 clinical study, which will include a direct comparison to currently approved mRNA vaccines.
CM04S1 continues to advance in a second Phase 2 clinical trial as a booster for healthy patients who have previously received the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccine (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04639466 ). Data from these studies will form the basis for comparing vaccine potential in unique patient groups as well as the general population.
GeoVax Labs, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel therapies and vaccines for solid tumor cancers and many of the world’s most threatening infectious diseases. The company’s lead program in oncology is a novel oncolytic solid tumor gene-directed therapy, Gedeptin ® , presently in a multicenter Phase 1/2 clinical trial for advanced head and neck cancers. GeoVax’s lead infectious disease candidate is GEO-CM04S1, a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine targeting high-risk immunocompromised patient populations. Currently in two Phase 2 clinical trials, GEO-CM04S1 is being evaluated as a COVID-19 vaccine for immunocompromised patients such as those suffering from hematologic cancers and other patient populations for whom the current authorized COVID-19 vaccines are insufficient. In addition, GEO-CM04S1 is in a Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating the vaccine as a more robust, durable COVID-19 booster among healthy patients who previously received the mRNA vaccines. GeoVax has a leadership team who have driven significant value creation across multiple life science companies over the past several decades. For more information, visit our website: www.geovax.com.
