Geovax Zika Vaccine Provides Potential for 100% Protection and Reduced Side-Effect Risks
January 24, 2019 at 09:00 am EST
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GeoVax Labs, Inc. announced the publication of a manuscript entitled Vaccine Candidate for Zika with Potential for Reduced Risk of Antibody-Dependent Enhancement (ADE). The article reports a major step forward in the development of a vaccine for protection against Zika virus (ZIKV). Testing in a highly rigorous challenge model showed the GeoVax vaccine, GEO-ZM02, provided 100% protection to mice infected with a lethal dose of ZIKV delivered directly into the brain. The study was funded by a grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which also provided technical assistance. GEO-ZM02 not only has the potential of a single-dose vaccine, which is practical to combat epidemics in resource-strained countries, but also does not bear the risk of enhancing other flavivirus infections, such as Dengue serotypes 1-4. This phenomenon, called Antibody Dependent Enhancement (ADE) of infection, has been shown to increase severity of Dengue infection in vivo, and is a safety concern for other Zika vaccines under development that utilize the structural Envelope (E) protein of ZIKV for their vaccine construct. GEO-ZM02 is based on the non-structural 1 (NS1) protein of ZIKV, which is not packaged into the virions and is not involved in ADE. Moreover, the NS1 protein is abundantly secreted into the blood of a ZIKV-infected individual and has been shown to play a critical role in flavivirus acquisition by mosquitoes by overcoming the immune barrier of the mosquito midgut. Therefore, a vaccine that targets the NS1 protein has the potential to protect both humans and mosquitoes from ZIKV infection; a novel vaccination strategy that could stem epidemics at a low vaccine coverage.
GeoVax Labs, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing human vaccines and immunotherapies against infectious diseases and solid tumor cancers using proprietary platforms. Its product pipeline includes ongoing human clinical trials for a Covid-19 vaccine and a gene-directed therapy against advanced head and neck cancers. Its additional research and development programs include preventive vaccines against Mpox and smallpox, hemorrhagic fever viruses (Ebola Zaire, Ebola Sudan and Marburg), Zika virus and malaria, as well as immunotherapies for multiple solid tumors. The Companyâs portfolio of wholly owned, co-owned, and in-licensed intellectual property, stands at over 155 granted or pending patent applications spread over 24 patent families. Its product candidate includes GEO-CM04S1, GEO-CM02, Gedeptin, MVA-VLP-MUC1, GEO-ZM02 and others. Its lead infectious disease candidate is GEO-CM04S1, a COVID-19 vaccine targeting high-risk immunocompromised patient populations.
GEOVAX LABS, INC. 
