According to the most recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 448,871 people were living with AIDS in the United States in 2006, 3,775 of which were children under the age of 13. That same year, 565,927 persons died from AIDS, 5,369 of which were under age 13.
GeoVax Labs Inc. (OTCBB: GOVX) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. The company today announced its updated progress of its phase 2 preventative human clinical trial testing; the company said it will move forward with therapeutic human trials with its AIDS vaccine.
According to the press release, the company’s phase 2 trail, conducted by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) supported HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), will involve 225 healthy volunteers from the United States and South America. The clinical trials are scheduled to commence early this fall, upon FDA approval.
“It is noteworthy to mention that the GeoVax AIDS vaccines being tested in the preclinical therapeutic trial is the same basic vaccine administered in the company’s human trials testing for a preventative use of the vaccine, vaccinating people before infection to prevent the development of AIDS should they become infected,” Dr. Robert McNally, CEO and president of GeoVax stated in the press release. “Thus, a ‘one for two’ vaccine could be a breakthrough solution for the company and the world, saving millions of dollars in redundant development costs and years of testing time by utilizing safety data already achieved in phase 1 preventative human trials. More important, time to market could be significantly reduced, saving lives much sooner than otherwise.”
GeoVax also summarized data from a pilot study on therapeutic vaccination in simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) – infected non-human primates with the SIV prototype for the GeoVax AIDS vaccine – and reported its AIDS vaccine controlled the SIV infection in the absence of drugs.
Because of the “excellent” results, the company has initiated drug treatment in humans to control HIV virus levels and block the development of AIDS. The company also announced it is in negotiations with an NIH-sponsored trial network to administer its therapeutic human trial program.
“From an operational standpoint, we are very pleased with the overall progress of the company,” stated Dr. McNally. “Progress with ongoing preventative vaccine trials and now the potential to address therapeutic use of the vaccine gives GeoVax an expanding role in the fight to control AIDS.”
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