GeoVax Receives Notice of Allowance for Cancer Vaccine Patent in China

Atlanta, GA, May 24, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IND-Enabling Studies Underway in the United States for MVA-VLP-MUC1 Vaccine Candidate

via NewMediaWire -- GeoVax Labs, Inc. (Nasdaq: GOVX), a biotechnology company developing human immunotherapies and vaccines against infectious diseases and cancer, today announced that the Chinese Patent Office has issued a Notice of Allowance for GeoVax’s patent application titled “Compositions and Methods for Generating an Immune Response to a Tumor Associated Antigen.”

The claims to be granted by the patent generally cover GeoVax’s vector platform for expressing tumor associated antigens in virus-like particles (VLPs) from a Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) viral vector and encompass GeoVax’s Mucin 1 (MUC1) tumor-associated antigen immunotherapy candidate. The Company uses its GV-MVA-VLP vaccine platform to express abnormal, aberrantly glycosylated forms of the cell surface-associated MUC1 protein that is associated with a wide range of cancers, including breast, colon, ovarian, prostate, pancreatic, and lung.

GeoVax’s initial results with its MVA-VLP-MUC1 immunotherapy candidates have been encouraging and the Company recently began an IND-enabling animal study with Dr. Pinku Mukherjee at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to define the optimal course and schedule of vaccination to define a protocol that can be evaluated in a Phase 1 clinical trial. GeoVax believes that its MVA vector platform is well-suited for development of therapeutic cancer vaccines based on the expression of tumor-associated antigens such as MUC1 and Cyclin B1.

David Dodd, GeoVax President and CEO, commented, “This patent allowance complements the previously issued U.S. Patent No. 11278607, demonstrating the global importance of this technology, and adding to our growing portfolio of wholly owned, co-owned, and in-licensed intellectual property, which now stands at over 70 granted or pending patent applications spread over 20 patent families. GeoVax is committed to advancing meaningful cancer immunotherapies towards improving the lives of patients worldwide.”

About GeoVax

GeoVax Labs, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing human vaccines and immunotherapies against infectious diseases and cancer using novel proprietary platforms. GeoVax’s product pipeline includes two ongoing Phase 2 clinical trials of GEO-CM04S1 for COVID-19 as a universal booster vaccine to mRNA vaccines authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and as a primary vaccine for use in immunocompromised patients. In addition to GEO-CM04S1 for COVID-19, GeoVax is developing GEO-CM02 as a pan-coronavirus vaccine. The Company is also conducting a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of Gedeptin for treatment of head and neck cancer. Gedeptin has been granted orphan drug status by the FDA. Additional research and development programs include preventive vaccines against Zika Virus, hemorrhagic fever viruses (Ebola, Sudan, Marburg, and Lassa) and malaria, as well as immunotherapies for multiple solid tumors. The Company’s portfolio of wholly owned, co-owned, and in-licensed intellectual property stands at over 70 granted or pending patent applications spread over 20 patent families.