With Mpox spreading globally, COVID-19 variants evading immunity, and bipartisan leaders demanding U.S.-based solutions, GeoVax calls for urgent investment in domestic manufacturing and vaccine diversification

Atlanta, GA – July 30, 2025 – GeoVax Labs, Inc. (Nasdaq: GOVX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing multi-antigenic vaccines and immunotherapies, today renewed its call for decisive U.S. action on pandemic preparedness and biodefense. With escalating outbreak risks, public health system strain, and growing bipartisan consensus for domestic solutions, GeoVax underscored the urgent need to modernize the nation’s countermeasure infrastructure and end foreign vaccine dependency.

“The warning signs are multiplying,” said David Dodd, Chairman and CEO of GeoVax. “We are facing the global expansion of virulent Mpox strains, immune-evasive COVID variants, and a national stockpile reliant on outdated, offshore platforms. Pandemic readiness must be built at home - with modern, American-made solutions and proactive government-industry leadership.”

GeoVax’s Domestic Platform for Emerging and Endemic Threats

GeoVax’s Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA)-based vaccine platform anchors two front-line candidates:

• GEO-MVA for Mpox/smallpox, designed to protect against both Clade I and II Mpox strains.
• GEO-CM04S1, a multi-antigen, next-generation COVID-19 vaccine targeting the 40 million U.S. immunocompromised through robust, durable, antibody and T-cell–driven immune protection.

The vaccine candidates are supported by Phase 2 clinical data (GEO-CM04S1) and favorable clinical development guidance from the European Medicines Agency (GEO-MVA) and current development plans include the implementation of an advanced MVA continuous avian cell line manufacturing process for U.S.-based, scalable production.

New Health Threats Demand Immediate Preparedness

• Mpox: The World Health Organization maintains Mpox as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Clade I outbreaks have now spread to numerous continents, including sustained transmission in China and wastewater detection in the U.S. New data from the Democratic Republic of the Congo confirmed vertical transmission during pregnancy, raising fresh concerns for maternal and neonatal health.
• COVID-19: The NB.1.8.1 (“Nimbus”) variant continues to gain dominance, prompting updated CDC guidance recommending boosters for vulnerable groups, including older adults and the immunocompromised. However, mRNA vaccine uptake remains low in these populations, reinforcing the need for broader, longer-lasting immunity options like GEO-CM04S1.

Alarmingly, the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) remains overly dependent on a single foreign supplier for Mpox/smallpox MVA vaccine, which is reportedly unable to supply the current estimated global needs.  Most concerning, the U.S. government has had to continuously shift MVA vaccine from the SNS, which is primarily intended for biosecurity purposes, resulting in a vicious cycle of SNS replenishment, followed by further reduction of the SNS as Mpox outbreaks continue.

“The cost of delay is steep, and the status quo is unacceptable,” said Dodd. “The United States needs increased MVA vaccine competition - not complacency and dependency on a foreign, monopolistic supplier.”

Bipartisan Momentum and Federal Mandate for Action

Policymakers across the aisle are rallying behind a more secure biodefense posture:

• At BIO 2025, Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) Chief of Staff Mark O’Neill emphasized the need for onshoring, platform diversification, and public-private partnerships to strengthen domestic pandemic response capabilities.
• In Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike are advancing legislation to reduce foreign dependency and prioritize U.S.-based manufacturing and procurement for pandemic countermeasures.

“GeoVax supports and welcomes this emerging consensus,” Dodd added. “We’re aligned with ASPR and BARDA priorities - and we’re ready to deliver. Swift, decisive government action is needed.”

Preparedness Requires Investment - Before the Next Crisis

More than 120 nations have signed the new WHO Pandemic Agreement, and the U.S. is scaling its biodefense footprint through mobile biocontainment units, genomic surveillance, and expanded diagnostics. Yet, without domestically produced, next-generation vaccines and a diversified stockpile, those efforts will fall short.

“We commend HHS, BARDA, ASPR, and congressional leaders for sounding the alarm,” concluded Dodd. “Now is the time to fund, procure, and manufacture domestically - before the next emergency hits.”

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. GeoVax is also developing a vaccine targeting Mpox and smallpox and, based on recent EMA regulatory guidance, anticipates progressing directly to a Phase 3 clinical evaluation, omitting Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials. 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.

Further information on our risk factors is contained in our periodic reports on Form 10-Q and Form 10-K that we have filed and will file with the SEC. Any forward-looking statement made by us herein speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

 

Company Contact:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

678-384-7220

Investor Relations Contact:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

212-698-8696

Media Contact:

Jessica Starman

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.