GeoVax Announces Appointment of Farshad Guirakhoo as Chief Scientific Officer

GeoVax Labs, Inc. (OTCQB: GOVX), a biotechnology company specializing in developing human vaccines, announced today that Farshad Guirakhoo, PhD, has been promoted to the role of Chief Scientific Officer, effective January 1, 2017. Dr. Guirakhoo joined GeoVax in 2015 as Senior Vice President of Research and Development.
Robert T. McNally, PhD, GeoVax’s President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “For the past year, Farshad has been a driving force behind the growth of our vaccine development pipeline, and we are pleased to expand his role at this critical time for our company. In the role of Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Guirakhoo will lead the scientific advancement of GeoVax’s technology pipeline as the Company identifies and pursues new opportunities to address significant medical needs.”
Dr. McNally continued, “Harriet Robinson, PhD, will continue to hold an instrumental position with GeoVax as Chief Scientific Officer Emeritus. In this role, she will continue to direct our HIV vaccine program as well as continuing to serve as principal investigator on grants to GeoVax from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Robinson, a co-founder of GeoVax, will also continue to serve as a member of our Board of Directors.”
Before joining GeoVax in 2015, Dr. Guirakhoo served in senior management and scientific roles within the biotechnology industry with Vaxess Technologies, Hookipa Biotech, Sanofi Pasteur, Acambis, Inc. and OraVax, Inc. He earned his Ph.D. in Virology at the Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, holds a M.Sc. degree in Genetics and a B.Sc. degree in Biology. He conducted his Post-Doctoral training at the Medical University of Vienna and at the US National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases in Fort Collins, CO. In his scientific career, Dr. Guirakhoo has filed over 90 patent applications and is author/co-author of more than 80 peer reviewed publications, including book chapters. He was instrumental in the development and commercialization of the Imojev Japanese encephalitis virus vaccine and the Dengvaxia vaccine for Dengue virus. In 2014, he was named as one of the 50 Most Influential People in Vaccines.
About GeoVax
GeoVax Labs, Inc., is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing human vaccines against infectious diseases using its Modified Vaccinia Ankara-Virus Like Particle (MVA-VLP) vaccine platform. The Company’s development programs are focused on vaccines against HIV, Zika, and hemorrhagic fever viruses (Ebola, Sudan, Marburg, and Lassa). GeoVax recently began programs to evaluate the use of its MVA-VLP platform in cancer immunotherapy and for therapeutic use in chronic Hepatitis B infections. GeoVax’s vaccine platform supports in vivo production of non-infectious VLPs from the cells of the very person receiving the vaccine, mimicking a natural infection, stimulating both the humoral and cellular arms of the immune system to recognize, prevent, and control the target infection. For more information, visit www.geovax.com.