GeoVax Congratulates Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice on Receiving the 2025 Healthcare Champions Lifetime Achievement Award

Recognizing a Visionary Leader in Advancing Healthcare Access for Minority and Vulnerable Populations Worldwide

ATLANTA, GA - February 11, 2025 (NEWMEDIAWIRE) - GeoVax Labs, Inc. (Nasdaq: GOVX), a biotechnology company developing immunotherapies and vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, proudly congratulates Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, President and CEO of Morehouse School of Medicine, on being honored with the 2025 Healthcare Champions Lifetime Achievement Award by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. This prestigious award recognizes Dr. Montgomery Rice's exceptional contributions to healthcare and her unwavering commitment to advancing health equity, particularly among underserved and minority populations globally.

Dr. Montgomery Rice has dedicated her career to addressing health disparities and promoting equitable healthcare access. As the first woman to lead the Morehouse School of Medicine, she has been instrumental in enhancing medical education and research focused on diseases that disproportionately affect marginalized communities. Her leadership extends beyond the United States, impacting health outcomes in developing and emerging countries.

In December 2022, Dr. Montgomery Rice joined GeoVax as a Special Advisor to the Chairman, CEO, and Board of Directors. Her expertise has been invaluable in guiding the Company's mission to develop innovative vaccines and immunotherapies that address the needs of underserved populations.

GeoVax is committed to advancing global health through its diverse product pipeline, which includes:

• GEO-CM04S1, a Next-Generation COVID-19 Vaccine for Immunocompromised Individuals: Designed to provide robust protection for those with weakened immune systems, who are often underserved in vaccine distribution efforts.
• GEO-MVA: An Mpox/Smallpox vaccine aimed at addressing current global health crises, including in regions like the African continent where Mpox outbreaks have been significant.
• Gedeptin®: An innovative immunotherapy for the treatment of solid tumors and currently undergoing clinical development for head and neck cancers, diseases that disproportionately impact minority populations worldwide.

"We are honored to have Dr. Montgomery Rice serving in the critical role as Special Advisor to me and our Board of Directors," said David Dodd, GeoVax Chairman and CEO. "Her strategic healthcare insight and dedication to health equity aligns with GeoVax's mission to develop vaccines and therapies that serve the most vulnerable populations. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to her on this well-deserved recognition."

Dr. Montgomery Rice will be formally recognized at the Atlanta Business Chronicle's second annual Health Care Champion Awards ceremony on March 20, 2025.

About GeoVax

GeoVax Labs, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel vaccines for many of the world’s most threatening infectious diseases and therapies for solid tumor cancers. The company’s lead clinical program is GEO-CM04S1, a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine for which GeoVax was recently awarded a BARDA-funded contract to sponsor a 10,000-participant Phase 2b clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of GEO-CM04S1 versus an approved COVID-19 vaccine. In addition, GEO-CM04S1 is 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. A Phase 2 clinical trial in first recurrent head and neck cancer, evaluating Gedeptin® combined with an immune checkpoint inhibitor is planned. GeoVax has a strong IP portfolio in support of its technologies and product candidates, holding worldwide rights for its technologies and products. The Company has a leadership team who have driven significant value creation across multiple life science companies over the past several decades. 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. 

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