Geovax and EmVenio Collaborate to Expand Phase 2 COVID-19 Booster Vaccine Trial By Investing.com

GeoVax Labs, Inc. (Nasdaq: GOVX), a biotechnology company developing immunotherapies and vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, and EmVenio Research, a patient-focused decentralized trial global organization, today announced a collaboration to deploy a mobile clinical facility in the Claremont, California area to expand GeoVax’s ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating GEO-CM04S1 as a COVID-19 booster vaccine in healthy patients.

“This unique initiative will extend the reach of our COVID-19 vaccine booster trial by leveraging EmVenio Research’s localized clinical trial model. As we continue to advance and explore the potential of GEO-CM04S1 as a more robust and durable COVID-19 booster than currently approved vaccine boosters, this collaboration will help reduce the burden of patient recruitment as it brings clinical research to diverse populations directly in their communities,” said David Dodd, GeoVax Chairman and CEO.

GEO-CM04S1 is a synthetic attenuated modified vaccinia Ankara (sMVA) vector vaccine that expresses spike and nucleocapsid antigens of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus. It is being researched in two Phase 2 clinical trials, with this trial as a COVID-19 booster for patients who have already received an mRNA vaccine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04639466). This trial will include 60 healthy individuals, 18 years of age or older, and is designed to specifically evaluate the safety profile and immunogenicity of 2 dose levels of GEO-CM04S1 as a booster shot. The immunological responses measured throughout the study will include both the level of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies and specific T-cell responses. GEO-CM04S1 is also being studied as the first vaccine comparing an investigational multi-antigenic COVID-19 vaccine to current FDA-approved mRNA vaccines in people who are immunocompromised (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04977024).

“EmVenio Research has a passion for creating avenues to engage local communities unfamiliar with research to participate in clinical trials through our mobile Community Research Sites. These sites can move closer into the neighborhoods and communities of urban and rural communities alike to increase access to studies,” said Thad Wolfram, President of EmVenio. “Community volunteers have made this type of research successful, and we are excited to partner with GeoVax on this Phase 2 clinical trial to deliver a potential option for COVID prevention designed by local researchers at City of Hope in Duarte, CA.”