Benzinga | Nov 17, 2021 09:06AM EST

GeoVax Highlights Presentation Of COVID-19 Vaccine Data At Vaccine World Asia Congress

GEO-CM02 Being Developed as a Universal Vaccine to Address Evolving SARS-CoV-2 Variants

ATLANTA, GA, Nov. 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire -- GeoVax Labs, Inc. (NASDAQ:GOVX), a biotechnology company specializing in developing human vaccines and cancer immunotherapies, today presented data from ongoing studies of its preventive vaccine against COVID-19. The presentation titled, "Addressing Evolving SARS-CoV-2 Variants through a Universal Coronavirus Vaccine," was delivered virtually by Mark J. Newman, Ph.D., GeoVax's Chief Scientific Officer, during the Vaccine World Asia Congress & Global COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturing & Supply Chain Summit, being held November 17-18.

First-generation SARS-CoV-2 vaccines were rapidly developed and have proven highly efficacious in the human population and were designed to encode the prefusion stabilized Spike protein (S) with the goal of inducing high levels of neutralizing antibodies. However, potential limitations of narrowly focusing on S are becoming apparent with emerging variants that partially escape neutralization by vaccine induced antibodies. Thus, the effectiveness of these vaccines against new SARS-CoV-2 variants and future coronavirus spillover events remains in question.

Using its novel Modified Virus Ankara - Virus Like Particle (GV-MVA-VLPTM) platform, GeoVax has developed a design strategy for vaccines expected to induce broader immunity through inclusion of multiple, genetically conserved structural proteins from the target pathogen. The GV-MVA-VLPTM platform is known to induce a balanced humoral (antibody) and cellular (T-cells) response against the multiple encoded immunogens, potentially limiting immune escape against emerging variants. Expression of the SARS-CoV-2 spike, membrane and envelope proteins by MVA supports the in vivo formation of virus like particles, or VLPs, which induce both antibody and T-cell responses. Incorporation of sequence-conserved structural and nonstructural proteins can provide targets for T-cell responses to increase the breadth and function of vaccine-induced immune responses. This strategy provides the basis for generating a universal vaccine with augmented potential to alleviate the burden of disease caused by circulating coronaviruses.

In his talk, Dr. Newman discussed GeoVax's vaccine design strategy for developing a universal SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and presented efficacy and immunogenicity data for the Company's lead vaccine candidate, GEO-CM02, which encodes the Spike (S), Membrane (M) and Envelope (E) proteins. Dr. Newman's presentation is available on GeoVax's website at www.geovax.com/investors/events.

Dr. Newman commented, "Our studies continue to support the use of MVA as a vector for the design and production of next-generation vaccines encoding multiple coronavirus proteins. The lead candidate encodes the S protein as the antibody target and the M and E proteins as T-cell targets. The combination of S, M and E protein expression supports in vivo VLP formation and optimal immunogenicity. In our studies, we measured functional immune responses after a single dose that mediated protection from infection and pathogenesis, including protection against the Beta variant, in our small animal models."

David Dodd, GeoVax President and CEO, further commented, "The presentation of data from our studies to date further validates our MVA platform and approach to addressing COVID-19 and its variants. We believe a critical and significant opportunity exists for a pan coronavirus vaccine with the attributes the GV-MVA-VLPTM technology can offer."

Dodd added, "Our development of GEO-CM02 as a potential pan coronavirus vaccine complements our recent in-license of GEO/COH04S1, a multi-antigenic SARS-CoV-2 investigational vaccine, developed at City of Hope for immunocompromised patients, which is currently being studied in an ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial and shows a strong potential to be used in the general population as a primary and/or general booster vaccine against COVID-19 worldwide."