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The Guardian
a day ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Cuts to UK's global vaccination funding would risk avoidable child deaths, experts warn
Any cut in UK funding to a global vaccination group would damage soft power and could make British less resilient to infectious diseases, as well as causing avoidable deaths among children, leading vaccine and aid experts have warned. Scientists including Sir Andrew Pollard, who led the development of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine, said a major cut in money for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) could also make the UK less able to respond to a future pandemic. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has not yet set out its future funding for Gavi, a Geneva-based public-private organisation that has vaccinated more than a billion children in developing countries. The UK has previously been one of Gavi's main funders, providing more than £2bn over the last four years. But with the UK aid budget cut back from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3% and the focus shifting towards bilateral aid the expectation is that there will be a major reduction at Wednesday's spending review. Pollard, who leads the Oxford Vaccine Group, said that as well as continuing to save lives in poorer countries, there was a self-interested case for continuing with similar levels of support. 'It's a safer place, obviously, for people who are in situations where they wouldn't have been able to access these vaccines without the government support, but it also makes it a safe place for us, because it's acting as part of the shield that we have against the spread of infectious diseases around the world,' he said. A number of the vaccines used by Gavi originated in the UK, Pollard said, such as a new vaccine for malaria co-developed by Oxford University, and this meant the expertise and infrastructure were in place when Covid descended. 'The Covid vaccine was developed on the back of years of funding, both from the UK funding sources of government, Wellcome Trust and so on, as well as international funders that put teams of people working on vaccines here in Oxford so we could then respond when a pandemic happened,' he said. 'If we weren't doing this type of work, having the infrastructure and capabilities in the UK, we wouldn't have been in a position to have such an impact so early in the pandemic against that virus.' Dr Sandy Douglas, senior vaccinologist at Oxford University's Jenner Institute, who led efforts to scale up production of the Covid vaccine, said Gavi was known as one of the most cost-efficient of all aid projects, with one estimate suggesting a child's life was saved for every £1,200 spent on it. 'There really aren't very many ways of spending money anywhere in the world that can save a child's life for so little money, and do it scalably so hundreds of thousands of lives, millions of lives, are saved over time,' he said. 'The withdrawal or reduction of British funding to Gavi is going to result in the avoidable deaths of many children. Labour played a leading role in establishing Gavi, and Gordon Brown designed the financing mechanism that helps it to operate. I think it's something Labour should be proud of, among its greatest achievements since the NHS, probably.' Moazzam Malik, chief executive of Save the Children UK, who was previously director general for Africa at the FCDO, said the UK had traditionally been 'a very active player' in multilateral aid efforts such as Gavi and the Global Fund, which focuses on HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria. Pulling back from this would be noted internationally, he said: 'People kind of appreciate that leadership. And if the UK decides to take a much more limited position, what the world would see from that is a sense of the UK pulling back.' Gavi's statistics show that it has vaccinated more than 1.1 billion children in 78 countries in its 25 years of operation, preventing nearly 19 million deaths An FCDO spokesperson said Jenny Chapman, the international development minister and peer, had set out that 'global health is a priority for this government and is a key issue as we modernise our approach to international development. 'Whilst we would not comment on the size of future pledges before announcing them, we continue to work with our partners, including Gavi, on this crucial issue.'
BBC News
26-03-2025
- Health
- BBC News
The Oxford women behind life-saving Covid vaccine trials
"We were privileged and lucky enough that we could do something."Three women who were involved in the development of the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid vaccine have told the BBC about the challenges they so vividly Parvinder Aley, Sagida Bibi and Hannah Robinson, from the Oxford Vaccine Group (OVG) spent up to 18 hours a day, seven days a week working on the clinical trials in 2020."Sometimes I couldn't go home for a week," said Ms Bibi, who was tasked with collecting blood samples from 12,000 participants while remaining a safe distance apart. Ms Robinson, who moved into a camper van in the clinic car park during the trials, said: "It was literally all hands on deck, thinking 'just do what you have to do to get the vaccine licensed'." Scientists at the OVG had developed a vaccine prior to March 2020 but had to rapidly speed up the testing and production schedule from years of trials, to just Aley, who facilitates research on the development and implementation of vaccines, knew that the group had a serious task ahead when lockdown was recalls being told: "This is not about glory, it's about delivering."Measures like wearing masks and washing hands helped to slow the spread of the virus however Dr Aley said: "To get us out of the situation we were going to need to get a vaccine."That responsibility felt huge but also we know how to do that." OVG had the expertise needed to test the vaccine but faced a difficult task - carrying out a clinical trial with more than 12,000 participants while complying with strict social distancing Robinson explained that the trial was mapped out in February said: "I was trying to work out how we could see a hundred people a day for a trial."It was very quickly clear that it would be huge. In a matter of weeks it had grown from hundreds to thousands."Her role was demanding, so Ms Robinson made the decision to live out of a camper van on the premises. "Eighteen hour days wouldn't be unusual," she said. "It was seven days a week for sure."Despite this, Ms Robinson fondly reflects on the atmosphere."It was a good mood. People were tired but positive," she team received many donations and gifts. They had little free time to do everyday activities like food shopping so key workers brought them food. So much food that a second fridge was purchased to store it all. Ms Bibi worked in the lab during the trials, spinning blood samples from more than 12,000 participants. She said: "Even though we say 12,000 participants, when were collecting blood and spinning it down, you have to times that by five or six for the amount of sample tubes that you end up collecting per visit. "It's a huge number of samples you bank across all of these sites."Ms Bibi lives in Birmingham which made it difficult for her to go home when working in Oxford. "There were hard days when people were strained and upset or just tired and missing family."During the trials, she spent more time away from her family than ever before. The work done by these women and their wider team has not gone unnoticed. Although it is no longer produced or licensed, more than three billion doses of the vaccine they trialled have been administered across the was linked with a rare side effect that caused a type of blood clot that in November 2022 was associated to 81 vaccines carry the risk of side effects and the chances of severe complication from Covid itself were University of Oxford says the vaccine saved 6.3m lives in the first year of the global vaccine rollout – the most out of all the vaccines in circulation at the Dr Aley said: "The feeling of teamwork, the feeling of achievement, the feeling of impact was amazing, I don't actually know how to describe it."She received an OBE for her services to vaccination during the pandemic."I've got twin daughters and I probably slept more the year that they were born than that year", she said, adding that she felt proud that she could be a role model for her children."Not bad for a working class girl from an immigrant family from Wolverhampton." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Associated Press
12-03-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
GeoVax Establishing Strategic Presence in Europe With Initial Footprint in the UK
Hub to Advance Global Vaccine and Immuno-Oncology Development ATLANTA, GA - March 12, 2025 ( NEWMEDIAWIRE) - GeoVax Labs, Inc. (Nasdaq: GOVX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company specializing in the development of immunotherapies and vaccines, today announced its initial steps toward establishing a strategic presence in Europe, with the UK as its initial footprint. This move aligns with the Company's commitment to advancing its vaccine and immunotherapy pipeline through global collaborations. Efforts are underway to identify a UK location best suited to align with GeoVax's development and corporate strategy. The Company already has several established connections in the UK and broader European region, including: Scientific Expertise: Professor Teresa Lambe, a principal investigator at the Oxford Vaccine Group, recently joined GeoVax's Scientific Advisory Board. Professor Lambe played a pivotal role in the development of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and has extensive experience in vaccine design and evaluation. Manufacturing Partnerships: GeoVax maintains an existing contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) relationship with Oxford Biomedica PLC (Oxford, UK), as well as additional collaborations with Oxford Biomedica (France), with facilities in Strasbourg and Lyon. Technology Licensing: The Company has a broad licensing agreement with ProBioGen AG (Berlin, Germany) to utilize their AGE1 continuous avian cell line for the manufacture of MVA vaccines. European Collaborations: GeoVax currently collaborates with multiple European-based service providers and UK academic partners, reinforcing the strategic rationale for establishing a presence within the region. To support this initiative, GeoVax is working closely with Professor Teresa Lambe and clinical investigators and scientists in Oxford and other academic centers across the UK to develop preclinical, translational, and clinical projects supporting its pipeline. Additionally, Dr. Deborah Spencer, a highly regarded expert in industry-academic partnerships and public health development, has recently been retained to facilitate and coordinate initiatives in the UK and Europe. Establishing a strategic presence in Europe will support GeoVax's infectious disease vaccine development efforts and play a key role in advancing Gedeptin(R), the Company's lead immuno-oncology candidate. Currently in clinical development for the treatment of advanced head and neck cancers, Gedeptin is anticipated to be further developed for use with immune checkpoint inhibitors as a potential treatment for various other solid tumors. GeoVax holds worldwide rights to Gedeptin for all indications. 'Expanding our presence into Europe represents a critical milestone for GeoVax as we continue to develop innovative solutions for infectious diseases and oncology, especially in building upon our initial UK footprint,' said David Dodd, President and CEO of GeoVax. 'The globally recognized expertise of our key European collaborators and partners will significantly enhance our research and development capabilities. This expansion underscores our commitment to global collaboration and innovation in both vaccine and immuno-oncology development. As we accelerate the development of our infectious disease vaccine candidates and Gedeptin, we look forward to providing continued updates.' 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(R), 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(R) 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: 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. 678-384-7220 212-698-8696 Media Contact: 202-779-0929
