Benzinga | Apr 1, 2021 09:37AM EDT

GeoVax Labs Reports US Patent For Co.'s 'Composition and Methods of Generating an Immune Response to Hepatitis B Virus'

GeoVax Labs, Inc. (NasdaqCM: GOVX) ("GeoVax" or the "Company"), a biotechnology company developing human immunotherapies and vaccines against infectious diseases and cancer, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a Notice of Allowance for Patent Application No. 16/305,305 entitled "Composition and Methods of Generating an Immune Response to Hepatitis B Virus."

The work supporting the patent application was performed through a collaboration between GeoVax and Georgia State University and the patent is jointly owned by the Company and the Georgia State University Research Foundation (GSURF).

David Dodd, GeoVax's Chairman & CEO, commented, "There is a clear, critical unmet medical need to treat chronic HBV infections, which affects over 250 million people worldwide. For many infected people, Hepatitis B has become a long-term, chronic infection that can lead to serious, or even life-threatening health issues like cirrhosis or liver cancer. Multiple vaccines exist to protect against HBV infection, but they cannot help patients already diagnosed with the disease. Although chronic HBV can be treated with drugs, the treatments do not cure 95% of patients, only suppressing the replication of the virus, forcing those who begin such treatments to continue with them for the rest of their lives.

"While our corporate focus and development priorities continue to be our COVID-19 vaccine and cancer immunotherapy programs, developing a treatment for chronic Hepatitis B infections is also of interest and under consideration as part of our longer-term focus. This patent allowance adds 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," concluded Mr. Dodd.

"This project is a good example of how the combined expertise and talent of academic researchers and industry partners can solve problems, innovate, and create value," added Clifford Michaels, Ph.D., Director of Georgia State University's Office of Technology Transfer and Commercialization. "We were excited to partner with GeoVax on this project and are looking forward to seeing this technology continue to advance."