SMYRNA - Cobb County is now home to the only company in Georgia that is developing an HIV/AIDS vaccine. GeoVax Labs Inc., which recently moved its headquarters to Smyrna, is also one of only a handful of companies in the U.S. researching ways to prevent the spread of the disease, which is described as pandemic.

The biopharmaceutical company is primarily developing humane vaccines to protect uninfected people from Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome should they be exposed to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, which causes AIDS, and also reduce the need for oral drugs for people who are already HIV positive.

Its goal is to produce an effective vaccine to sell to a drug company for commercial use in the U.S. and around the world.

GeoVax's vaccine is believed to be only the fifth HIV/AIDS vaccine to be selected to move forward into Phase 2a human trials conducted by the HIV Vaccine Trials Network, a network supported by the National Institutes of Health.

"We're in the middle; we're a little beyond the middle. Most of the companies drop out early in the game because of safety problems," said Don Hildebrand, GeoVax chairman and co-founder.

"Five out of 50 (vaccines) moved forward. Two of those that moved into Phase 2 have already fallen by the wayside. In fact, one of them is my old company, who had a lot more money than we had here. So just because you have money doesn't mean you're picking the right technology."

Presently, no HIV/AIDS vaccines are approved for use outside of clinical trials. Vaccine development involves using disease-causing agents, such as a virus, to stimulate the immune system to recognize the agent and launch a protective response.

After a vaccine is developed and tested on animals, it goes through a series of three clinical trial phases. Phase 1 is primarily a safety trial, Phase 2 is to test immunity to HIV and Phase 3 involves testing where HIV is spreading. Upon successful completion of all three phases, a company is allowed to go through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's license process for approval. That can take up to two years to complete.

GeoVax's preventative vaccine is already being tested in Phase 2 on human volunteers at 11 clinical sites in the U.S. and two sites in Peru. The 225 uninfected volunteers are given the vaccine to measure safety and immune responses to the vaccine. Volunteers are compensated.

The company is looking to begin Phase 1 testing of its therapeutic vaccine for HIV positive individuals soon with the nonprofit AIDS Research Consortium of Atlanta, which enrolls residents for clinical trials. It's expected to get a response on whether it can go ahead from the FDA with the trial in two weeks.

"In this country, most people think HIV isn't a big deal anymore; people can take their oral medications and can be like Magic Johnson and live a long and successful life," said Robert McNally, GeoVax president and CEO. "The problem is the expense in taking all those oral meds. Plus, all the side effects that come from it."

Established in 2001 in Atlanta, GeoVax moved its 8,400-square-foot corporate headquarters and laboratory operations in November to the UCB Pharma campus at 1900 Lakes Park Drive off Cobb Parkway in Smyrna. On Thursday, it gave metro Atlanta community leaders a first glimpse into its operations there. It was previously located on the Briarcliff campus of Emory University, which closed its biotech incubator facility.

The GeoVax lab develops new versions of the company's vaccine, coordinates pre-clinical primate research and evaluates data generated in animal trials.

The final versions of GeoVax's vaccine evolved over 15 years through a collaboration headed by Dr. Harriet Robinson, who is now the company's chief scientist.

Robinson, a leader in AIDS vaccine research, worked with a team at the Emory University Vaccine Center. Their vaccine technology was licensed from the Centers for Disease Control and the NIH and combined with the vaccine center technology to make the vaccine.

HIV is different from most other viruses because it attacks the body's immune system, which fights infections, according to the CDC. It invades human cells and converts T cells - a type of white blood cell needed to fight disease - into cells that produce HIV into the blood stream, destroying a person's immune defense system.

What makes GeoVax's vaccine different from others, the company said, is that it stimulates the immune system to generate antibodies that recognize and tag HIV and T cells that recognize and kill the virus. It is particularly good at recognizing the normal form of the protein surrounding the virus cell.

"The purpose of a vaccine is to train your antibodies and killer T cells, without you having to have the infection. It actually takes really about six months to get a good antibody response," Robinson said. "The killer T cells are faster and you can train them pretty well in two weeks."

Hildebrand said GeoVax's therapeutic vaccine for those already HIV positive is the company's best hope for success.

"If we can stop that infection from blowing up into AIDS or reduce that virus level in the body with our vaccine, we're much quicker to the marketplace with an effective product," he said.

For Tracy Elliott, executive director of AID Atlanta, that is inspiring news.

Since its founding in 1982, AID Atlanta has grown into the largest service organization for HIV positive individuals in the Southeast, providing such services as HIV testing, counseling, medical referrals, food and clothing assistance and legal assistance.

In metro Atlanta alone, new cases of HIV infection are increasing, he said.

"We're seeing a significant increase among gay men in the city along with African-American women. We are definitely not winning the battle here in Atlanta," Elliott said.

After touring GeoVax's facility, Elliott said the work being done by the 12 employees there is good to see.

"We're very hopeful and excited about it," he said. "We always say that we want to be worked out of business as soon as possible and this is the way that it's going to be done, through a vaccine."

For more information about AID Atlanta, visit www.aidatlanta.org or call (404) 870-7700.