Phase II AIDS Vaccine Manufacturing Agreement Signed

A contract manufacturing agreement has been signed for production of an AIDS vaccine that will be tested in a large-scale phase II human clinical trial.

Althea Technologies, Inc. (San Diego, CA, USA), a leading provider of technologies and services for pharmaceutical development and manufacturing, has been engaged by GeoVax Labs, Inc. (Atlanta, GA, USA), to manufacturer its HIV-1 DNA vaccine.

This vaccine will be utilized in GeoVax's advanced phase II human trials planned to start in early 2008. GeoVax chose Althea as the contract manufacturer for its DNA vaccine based on its extensive experience in the field of DNA vaccine manufacture and its regulatory compliance history.

The GeoVax vaccine regimen employs a "prime-boost strategy.” Trial participants are administered the GeoVax HIV-1 DNA vaccine, which "primes” the immune system followed by the GeoVax HIV-1 MVA (Modified Vaccinia Virus) boost. Both vaccines deliver over 50% of HIV components but cannot cause AIDS. Safety and immunologic results from earlier as well as ongoing human trials have been very encouraging, thus supporting planned acceleration of large-scale phase II clinical studies.

Don Hildebrand, CEO and president of GeoVax Labs, said, "We are very pleased with our decision to use Althea as the contract manufacturer for our DNA-AIDS vaccines due to their long and well known expertise in this arena. The manufacturing of these vaccines for GeoVax's phase II human trials is a very important step forward in our development plan and demonstrates our confidence in the future success of our AIDS vaccine program.”


Related Links:
Althea Technologies
GeoVax Labs