GeoVax to Present Unique Technology at New York Academy of Sciences Vaccine Conference

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ATLANTA, GA, May 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- GeoVax Labs, Inc. GOVXD, a biotechnology company developing human vaccines, announced that it will deliver a presentation showcasing the Company's unique technology during the Innovative Vaccines Against Resistant Infectious Diseases and Emerging Threats Conference, presented by the Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Discussion Group of The New York Academy of Sciences. The conference is being held May 20, 2019 in New York, New York. GeoVax's presentation is entitled "Development of Single-Dose Vaccines for Emerging Infectious Diseases Using a Novel Plug and Play Live Viral Vector Platform, Preclinical Data for Zika, Ebola and Lassa Fever Vaccines as Examples."

The poster presentation will be delivered by Michael Hellerstein, GeoVax's Director of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Systems, and will feature GeoVax's "Plug and Play" vaccine platform which utilizes its recombinant Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vector to express foreign antigens on virus-like particles (VLPs) in the person being vaccinated. The MVA-VLP platform has several advantages including the ability to use single inoculations to achieve full protection. Single-dose protection is a favorable characteristic of a vaccine for emerging infectious disease outbreak response, given the speed of spread of pathogens and the impracticality of multi-dose regimens in the under-resourced settings where outbreaks often occurs. In studies for Ebola, Lassa and Zika, representing important human pathogens from 3 different virus families, a single dose of GeoVax's vaccine fully protected animals against a lethal challenge. These serve as examples of the broad utility of the MVA-VLP platform for many more indications. GeoVax's MVA platform has previously been shown to elicit both durable antibody and T cell responses against HIV in several clinical trials.

Commenting on the upcoming presentation, Farshad Guirakhoo, Ph.D., GeoVax Chief Scientific Officer stated, "GeoVax's MVA-VLP platform technology is built upon a 5th generation MVA vector system that is improved for balanced and stable expression of vaccine transgenes, and VLP formation, during manufacture. It has the advantages of being a live replication-competent vector in avian cells for manufacturing, yet replication-deficient in mammalian cells for vaccination, thus inherently safe. Importantly, MVA vaccines elicit protective T cell as well as antibody responses in animals and humans. The MVA platform can be combined with the potent immunogenicity of VLPs or be used to express proteins in their native multimeric conformations enabling vaccines that induce full protection after a single dose. The safety and immunogenicity of the platform was first validated in animal and human studies using DNA and MVA-VLP-HIV vaccines and further expanded for developing vaccines against emerging pathogens, endemic diseases, chronic infections and cancer. Moving forward we look forward to clinical validation of our technology in multiple indications, including infectious diseases, immuno-oncology and immunotherapy."

About GeoVax

GeoVax Labs, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing human vaccines against infectious diseases and cancer using a novel patented Modified Vaccinia Ankara-Virus Like Particle (MVA-VLP) based vaccine platform. On this platform, MVA, a large virus capable of carrying several vaccine antigens, expresses proteins that assemble into VLP immunogens within (in vivo) the person receiving the vaccine. The production of VLPs in the person being vaccinated mimics virus production in a natural infection, stimulating both the humoral and cellular arms of the immune system to recognize, prevent, and control the target infection. The MVA-VLP derived vaccines elicit durable immune responses in the host similar to a live-attenuated virus, while providing the safety characteristics of a replication-defective vector.

GeoVax's current development programs are focused on preventive vaccines against HIV, Zika Virus, hemorrhagic fever viruses (Ebola, Sudan, Marburg, and Lassa), and malaria, as well as therapeutic vaccines against chronic Hepatitis B infections and multiple cancers. The Company has designed the leading preventative HIV vaccine candidate to fight against the subtype of HIV prevalent in the larger commercial markets of the Americas, Western Europe, Japan, and Australia; this program is currently undergoing human clinical trials managed by the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) with the support of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  GeoVax's HIV vaccine is also part of collaborative efforts to develop an immunotherapy as a functional cure for HIV.  For more information, visit www.geovax.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this document are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may differ materially from those included in these statements due to a variety of factors, including whether:  GeoVax can develop and manufacture its vaccines with the desired characteristics in a timely manner, GeoVax's vaccines will be safe for human use, GeoVax's vaccines will effectively prevent targeted infections in humans, GeoVax's vaccines will receive regulatory approvals necessary to be licensed and marketed, GeoVax raises required capital to complete vaccine development, there is development of competitive products that may be more effective or easier to use than GeoVax's products, GeoVax will be able to enter into favorable manufacturing and distribution agreements, and other factors, over which GeoVax has no control. GeoVax assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements and does not intend to do so. More information about these factors is contained in GeoVax's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including those set forth at "Risk Factors" in GeoVax's Form 10-K.

GeoVax Labs, Inc.
6783847220
investor@geovax.com

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