GeoVax

History

Formed in 2001 in Atlanta, Georgia, the approach was originally based on preclinical work done by Harriet Robinson from 1992 to 2002. In 2002, laboratory space, equipment and personnel were acquired and work on an HIV-1 vaccine development plan began. In May 2006, human clinical trials of the drug began. The company has previously worked on developing vaccines for Marburg, Lassa Fever, Ebola, Zika and COVID-19. Currently, the company is focused on developing their GEO-MVA platform for mpox and smallpox, with plans to initiate a Phase 3 immunobridging trial in the second half of 2026.

In January 2020, the company announced initiation of efforts to develop a vaccine against novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. The GeoVax program has been added to the "Draft Landscape of COVID-19 Candidate Vaccines" by the World Health Organization.

On September 25, 2020, GeoVax closed an underwritten public offering, raising gross proceeds of $12.8 million. Concurrent with the offering, GeoVax common stock began trading on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol "GOVX".

Recently, the company began collaborating with Emory University on the development of a therapeutic vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, with a specific focus on head and neck cancer (HNC).

Pre-clinical and clinical history

From preclinical results (using SHIV) 96% of primates (22/23) were protected from the virus over a three-and-a-half-year period when vaccinated, while by contrast five out of six primates died within eight months after being infected when left untreated. The vaccine works with a combined DNA vaccine and MVA (modified vaccinia Ankara) vaccine, both of which lead to the insertion of genes into primate DNA which leads to foreign protein expression. With the GeoVax vaccine, a variety of HIV proteins (both surface and internal) are expressed from genes which include the Env, Pol and Gag genes.

GeoVax is currently conducting multiple site Phase 2 Human clinical trials for HIV/AIDS preventive vaccine products following successful completion of multiple Phase 1 human clinical trials.

In 2010 GeoVax began enrolling patients in a Phase 1 therapeutic clinical trial for individuals already infected with HIV. The long-term therapeutic goal is to develop a vaccine-based mechanism to treat infected individuals that either prevents or significantly slows progression to symptomatic HIV, including AIDS, by stimulating an infected individual's immune system to resist the progression of infection. The study is being completed at the AIDS Research Consortium of Atlanta.