GeoVax Completes Patient Enrollment in Head and Neck Cancer Trial
Clinical-stage biotechnology company, GeoVax Labs, Inc. (Nasdaq: GOVX), has completed patient enrollment for its Phase 1/2 clinical study evaluating Gedeptin® in patients suffering from advanced head and neck cancer. The company says it expects to complete the study by the third quarter of 2024 and is already in discussions with advisors on protocol development in support of a follow-on Phase 2 or Phase 2/3 trial.
Kelly McKee, MD, MPH, GeoVax’s Chief Medical Officer, commented, “Demonstrating the safety, tolerability, and stabilization or shrinkage of injected tumors in patients receiving multiple cycles of Gedeptin opens the door to advancing this promising therapeutic in additional patients with advanced head and neck cancer as well as in patients with other solid tumor types and at multiple points in their therapeutic journey.”
Gedeptin is a novel patented product technology for the treatment of solid tumors through a gene therapy strategy known as Gene-Directed Enzyme Prodrug Therapy (GDEPT). In GDEPT, a vector is used to selectively transduce tumor cells with a nonhuman gene, which expresses an enzyme that can convert a nontoxic prodrug into a very toxic antitumor compound.
GeoVax’s study is being funded in part by the FDA pursuant to its Orphan Products Clinical Trials Grants Program. The FDA has also granted Gedeptin orphan drug status for the treatment of oral and pharyngeal cancers, including cancers of the lip, tongue, gum, floor of mouth, salivary gland, and other oral cavities.
About GeoVax
GeoVax Labs, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel therapies and vaccines for solid tumor cancers and many of the world’s most threatening infectious diseases. The company’s lead program in oncology is a novel oncolytic solid tumor gene-directed therapy, Gedeptin®, presently in a multicenter Phase 1/2 clinical trial for advanced head and neck cancers. GeoVax’s lead infectious disease candidate is GEO-CM04S1, a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine targeting high-risk immunocompromised patient populations. Currently in three Phase 2 clinical trials, GEO-CM04S1 is being evaluated as a primary vaccine for immunocompromised patients such as those suffering from hematologic cancers and other patient populations for whom the current authorized COVID-19 vaccines are insufficient, and as a booster vaccine in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). In addition, GEO-CM04S1 is in a Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating the vaccine as a more robust, durable COVID-19 booster among healthy patients who previously received the mRNA vaccines. GeoVax has a leadership team who have driven significant value creation across multiple life science companies over the past several decades. For more information, visit our website: www.geovax.com.
