GeoVax Labs, Inc., a biotechnology company developing preventive and therapeutic HIV vaccines, has received a Notice of Allowance from the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for patent application US 10/336,566 entitled, “Compositions and Methods for Generating an Immune Response.” The patent, exclusively licensed from Emory University and the US Government, broadly covers compositions, methods, and uses of the GeoVax’s DNA/MVA vaccine in eliciting cellular and humoral immune responses to an HIV antigen.

The allowed claims pursuant to the patent cover advances in the DNA construct portion of GeoVax’s vaccine. The DNA construct forms the priming vaccine in the GeoVax HIV vaccine regimen and is followed by boosting administrations made up of a modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) construct. Preclinical studies in primates have shown that simian analogs of GeoVax’s DNA/MVA vaccine provide up to 78 per cent per exposure protection against SIV251, a highly virulent strain of simian immunodeficiency virus. Phase I testing in humans is ongoing in a trial sponsored by the HIV Vaccine Trials Network, with plans for phase II initiation in 2014.

"This patent is key to the commercialization of our DNA/MVA HIV vaccine technology,” said Robert T McNally, PhD, president and CEO of GeoVax. “We are pleased that the USPTO has confirmed that the claims in our patent application are patentable over the prior art of record.”

GeoVax’s unique, two component vaccine, a recombinant DNA and a recombinant modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA), is designed to stimulate both anti-HIV T cell and anti-HIV antibody immune responses.