EQS-News: GeoVax Expands Gedeptin(R) Patent Portfolio

ATLANTA, GA - May 7, 2025 (NEWMEDIAWIRE) - GeoVax Labs, Inc. (Nasdaq: GOVX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing immunotherapies and vaccines against solid tumors and infectious diseases, announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a Notice of Allowance related to U.S. patent application 17/502,101 entitled “Enhanced Therapeutic Usage of a Purine Nucleoside Phosphorylase or Nucleoside Hydrolase Prodrug”. The allowed claims further strengthen GeoVax’s intellectual property position in the oncology space.

The allowed claims describe a method for treating solid tumors - including glioblastoma, breast, prostate, head and neck, glioma, and lung cancers - through the direct intratumoral administration of an adenoviral vector encoding purine nucleoside phosphorylase (Ad/PNP), followed by local administration of the prodrug fludarabine phosphate (F-araAMP), and subsequent radiation therapy. This triple-combination strategy is designed to generate local, targeted cytotoxic activity within the tumor microenvironment while minimizing systemic toxicity.

The allowed patent joins the growing Gedeptin intellectual property portfolio, which was exclusively licensed to GeoVax through a prior agreement with PNP Therapeutics, Inc. and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)/Southern Research. Under the agreement, GeoVax has assumed all licensing rights and IP prosecution responsibilities for the Gedeptin platform.

David Dodd, Chairman and CEO of GeoVax, commented, “This allowed patent underscores the clinical and commercial promise of our Gedeptin platform and demonstrates our commitment to expanding therapeutic options for patients with difficult-to-treat cancers. While the claims do not directly mirror our ongoing clinical programs, they establish a critical foundation for future directions, including potential integration with advanced delivery systems for tumors that are challenging to access.”

Dodd continued, “The USPTO’s recognition of this therapeutic method further validates our approach and underscores the growing value of our wholly owned, co-owned, and in-licensed intellectual property estate, now standing at over 135 granted or pending patent applications spread across 23 distinct patent families."

Having successfully completed a Phase 1/2a study, as monotherapy in advanced head and Neck cancer patients, Gedeptin is scheduled to begin a Phase 2 trial in combination with an Immune Check Inhibitor (ICI) for patients with first recurrence of head and neck cancer. The newly allowed claims provide further protection as GeoVax explores expanded applications, including novel device-based delivery approaches in potential partnership with interventional oncology companies.

About Gedeptin

Gedeptin is a viral-vectored gene therapy that employs a non-replicating adenoviral vector encoding the E. coli enzyme purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP). When injected directly into a tumor and followed by systemic administration of the prodrug fludarabine phosphate, PNP enzymatically converts the prodrug into a cytotoxic metabolite (fluoroadenine), resulting in selective killing of tumor cells by disrupting RNA and protein synthesis.

This tumor-targeted approach offers several key advantages:

• Localized cytotoxicity with reduced systemic side effects,
• Potential synergy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs),
• Applicability across multiple solid tumor types, particularly those accessible for intratumoral injection.

Gedeptin will soon be evaluated in a Phase 2 clinical trial for patients with first recurrence of head and neck cancer in combination with an approved ICI. It has been granted Orphan Drug Designation by the U.S. FDA for intratumoral treatment of oral and pharyngeal cancers.

About GeoVax

GeoVax Labs, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel vaccines against infectious diseases and therapies for solid tumor cancers. The Company’s lead clinical program is GEO-CM04S1, a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine currently in three Phase 2 clinical trials, being evaluated as (1) 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, (2) a booster vaccine in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and (3) a more robust, durable COVID-19 booster among healthy patients who previously received the mRNA vaccines. In oncology the lead clinical program is evaluating a novel oncolytic solid tumor gene-directed therapy, Gedeptin®, having recently completed a multicenter Phase 1/2 clinical trial for advanced head and neck cancers. The Company is also developing GEO-MVA, a vaccine targeting Mpox and smallpox. GeoVax has a strong IP portfolio in support of its technologies and product candidates, holding worldwide rights for its technologies and products. For more information about the current status of our clinical trials and other updates, visit our website: www.geovax.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements regarding GeoVax’s business plans. The words “believe,” “look forward to,” “may,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “should,” “plan,” “could,” “target,” “potential,” “is likely,” “will,” “expect” and similar expressions, as they relate to us, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. Actual results may differ materially from those included in these statements due to a variety of factors, including whether: GeoVax is able to obtain acceptable results from ongoing or future clinical trials of its investigational products, GeoVax’s immuno-oncology products and preventative vaccines can provoke the desired responses, and those products or vaccines can be used effectively, GeoVax’s viral vector technology adequately amplifies immune responses to cancer antigens, GeoVax can develop and manufacture its immuno-oncology products and preventative vaccines with the desired characteristics in a timely manner, GeoVax’s immuno-oncology products and preventative vaccines will be safe for human use, GeoVax’s vaccines will effectively prevent targeted infections in humans, GeoVax’s immuno-oncology products and preventative vaccines will receive regulatory approvals necessary to be licensed and marketed, GeoVax raises required capital to complete 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.