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news.GeoVax Labs has completed enrolling nine patients in Phase 1/2 trial evaluating the safety, immunogenicity and ability of its DNA/MVA vaccine, the HIV/AIDS therapeutic vaccine.
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The study is designed to assess the safety and immunogenicity of the company’s vaccine in HIV-positive patients who can control infections using oral HIV drug medication.
GeoVax president and CEO Robert McNally said, "This pilot study is our first trial investigating use of a therapeutic vaccine to address the need for a treatment that is better tolerated and less costly than the HIV oral medications currently available."
Subsequent to vaccination, the trial includes a short period of drug-interruption to assess vaccine’s ability to control the infection in the absence of continuing drug therapy.
Priming with a recombinant DNA vaccine followed by boosting with a recombinant modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vaccine is included in the Phase 1/2 trial.
According to the company, vaccine regimen draws out both antiviral antibody and antiviral T cells that can block infection and recognize and kill infected cells respectively.
GeoVax chief scientific officer Harriet Robinson said, "Our next step planned for our therapeutic vaccine development program is a Phase 1 clinical trial to investigate the use of our vaccine in combination with standard-of-care drug therapy in young adults."
The trial is being conducted at the AIDS Research Consortium of Atlanta, the Alabama Vaccine Research Center at the University of Alabama, Birmingham and the AIDS Research Alliance of Los Angeles.