ATLANTA, GA — GeoVax Labs, Inc. (Nasdaq: GOVX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company, has welcomed the launch of a new global mpox vaccine stockpile, an initiative funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and coordinated by the International Coordinating Group (ICG) on Vaccine Provision. The stockpile, announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) on September 2 and launched on August 27, is scheduled to begin operations later this month. It aims to provide countries with timely, equitable, and sustainable access to mpox vaccines during future outbreaks, establishing a long-term mechanism for global response.
The initiative marks a shift from reactive outbreak response to sustained preparedness, a move that GeoVax’s Chairman and CEO, David A. Dodd, called an important step forward. “Equitable access requires more than having vaccines available after an outbreak begins,” he said. “It requires durable procurement infrastructure, sufficient vaccine supply, and the ability to rapidly deliver vaccine protection where it is needed.” The stockpile builds on the Access and Allocation Mechanism from the 2024 mpox public health emergency and addresses persistent barriers to vaccine access. WHO has identified securing a robust product mix and supporting market-shaping efforts as strategic objectives, underscoring the importance of reliable and diversified vaccine supply.
The ICG mechanism has been used for decades to coordinate emergency vaccine supplies for epidemic-prone diseases, and the addition of mpox establishes a durable framework for collaboration among international health organizations, donors, countries, and manufacturers. GeoVax sees this as an opportunity to contribute its own MVA-based vaccine candidate, GEO-MVA, which is advancing toward a pivotal Phase 3 immune-bridging study planned for the fourth quarter of 2026. The company has completed key manufacturing, regulatory, and clinical milestones, including GMP production and EMA Scientific Advice supporting an expedited pathway comparing GEO-MVA to the licensed MVA-BN vaccine.
GeoVax believes additional qualified MVA vaccine sources are essential to expand supply and manufacturing capacity. “Our objective with GEO-MVA is to contribute a reliable additional source of MVA vaccine capacity that can strengthen global supply resilience,” said Dodd. The company is engaging government agencies and international preparedness organizations regarding future procurement requirements.
Beyond GEO-MVA, GeoVax is developing next-generation MVA technologies, including MVA-X for potential single-dose protection, continuous-cell-line manufacturing for scalable production, and microarray-based delivery technologies to simplify administration. “The next challenge is ensuring that the vaccines supporting that stockpile can be manufactured at scale and deployed as efficiently and broadly as possible,” Dodd added.
The launch of the stockpile represents a significant advance in infrastructure for equitable vaccine access, but as Dodd noted, preparedness also requires sufficient and reliable supply. With GEO-MVA progressing toward pivotal evaluation, GeoVax looks forward to collaborating with global health partners to expand sustainable access worldwide.
