GeoVax Labs announces issuance of Ebola vaccine patent

GeoVax Labs announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued Patent No. 11,701,418 B2 to GeoVax, pursuant to the Company’s patent application No. 15/543,139 titled “Replication-Deficient Modified Vaccinia Ankara and Matrix Protein.” The claims granted by the patent generally cover GeoVax’s vector platform for expressing ebolavirus antigens in virus-like particles utilizing an MVA viral vector. The claims encompass multiple ebolavirus strains, including Sudan ebolavirus, Zaire ebolavirus, Tai Forest ebolavirus, and Reston ebolavirus. GeoVax previously demonstrated that a single intramuscular dose of its vaccine candidate, GEO-EM01, provided 100% protection in rhesus macaques challenged with a lethal dose of Zaire ebolavirus. GEO-EM01 is based on the Company’s novel MVA-VLP platform, which generates noninfectious VLPs in the individual being vaccinated. VLPs mimic a natural infection, triggering the body to produce a robust and durable immune response with both antibodies and T cells. Additionally, in July 2021, the Company announced results of preclinical efficacy studies of its Sudan ebolavirus vaccine candidate, in which a single dose of the vaccine protected 100% of small animals challenged with a lethal dose of SUDV. Dr. Jason Comer of Sealy Institute for Vaccine Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch, recently discussed GeoVax’s Sudan virus vaccine efficacy. His presentation to the Global Health Preparedness Strategy and Priority Pathogens session at the 23rd Annual World Vaccine Congress demonstrated partial protection following lethal Sudan virus challenge in a rigorous cynomolgus macaque model. This research project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds under a Preclinical Services Contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.