GeoVax: City of Hope-Developed COVID-19 Vaccine Produced Robust Antibodies and T cells

 The investigational vaccine is now being used in Phase 2 trials for immunocompromised patients and as a booster for healthy adult volunteers

LOS ANGELES and ATLANTA, March 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire – A COVID-19 investigational vaccine, developed by City of Hope scientists and now licensed to GeoVax Labs Inc. (Nasdaq: GOVX), produced a robust neutralizing antibody and T cell (an immune cell) response against SARS-CoV-2 with no significant side effects in a Phase 1 clinical trial led by John Zaia, M.D., Aaron D. Miller and Edith Miller Chair for Gene Therapy, according to a study published today in The Lancet Microbe.

COH04S1 is uniquely different than the many vaccines that have been developed because it targets both the spike and nucleocapsid proteins, in contrast to the current U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved COVID-19 vaccines, which only target the spike protein.

COH04S1 is being studied in a first-of-its-kind Phase 2 clinical trial for immunocompromised cancer patients who have difficulty producing antibodies and largely depend on T cells to protect against the virus responsible for COVID-19. Likewise, COH04S1 is also being evaluated in a Phase 2 vaccine booster trial format, which is aimed at evaluating how COH04S1 can boost pre-existing vaccine immunity to spike while also causing a strong immune response to nucleocapsid.

COH04S1 elicited neutralizing antibodies against the virus’ spike protein, which interacts with the human cellular ACE2 receptor, allowing the virus to enter cells of the lung, heart and other organs, resulting in damage and significant inflammation. These neutralizing antibodies were effective against the original SARS-CoV-2 and subsequent viral variants. T cells were produced against the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein, as well as its spike protein, after just one dose of COH04S1.

“This data confirms the powerful dual action of our vaccine,” said Don J. Diamond, Ph.D., professor in City of Hope’s Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Transplantation and the vaccine’s lead developer. "Given the multiple mutations in spike, leading to variants of concern and inconsistent protection from existing FDA-approved vaccines, we are excited about our approach incorporating two antigens in one vaccine. Should a new mutation arise in the spike antigen that interferes with antibody recognition, we believe a person vaccinated with our vaccine would still have substantial T cell immunity against both the nucleocapsid and spike antigens that would protect them from the ravages of COVID-19.

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