| November 01, 2001 |
| Hemispherx Biopharma Will Announce New HIV Clinical Treatment Data On Immune Intervention during "Drug Holidays" at WHO Conference |
Philadelphia, PA, Thursday, November 01, 2001: Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. (AMEX: HEB) announced today that new clinical data would be presented at the upcoming scientific meeting in the European Union (EU). These meetings, sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO), will convene a broad cross section of immunology, virology, and clinical experts from the EU and United States in approximately nine weeks.
"HAART" is the acronym for a powerful antiviral 'cocktail' of multiple drugs used worldwide in the management of chronic HIV infection. HAART often drops the level of the AIDS virus in the blood to undetectable levels; however, the therapeutic benefits may be transitory and are often associated with potentially fatal drug toxicities.
To combat these serious medical issues, physicians worldwide have recently introduced the new concept of "drug holiday", also called strategic treatment interruption (STI)-a discontinuation of all parts of the complete HAART regimen. However, approximately 86% of chronically HIV infected patients will relapse quickly, usually within 3 weeks of commencing a holiday or "STI".
Hemispherx's RNA drug technology, a group of experimental-level immunotherapeutics, including Ampligen®, is inserted into the "drug holiday" space under clinical protocols recently authorized by regulatory agencies. For pending patent and regulatory reasons, the company declines to describe the clinical details prior to announcements at the upcoming conferences.
Hemispherx Biopharma, based in Philadelphia, is a pharmaceutical company engaged in the manufacture and global clinical development of new drug entities in the nucleic acid (NA) class for chronic viral diseases and disorders of the immune system including CFS, HIV and hepatitis. Its flagship products are Ampligen® - being developed for CFS and drug-resistant HIV – and polyandenur, being developed for hepatitis B and C. It is conducting Phase III trials in CFS and Phase IIb trials in HIV/AIDS. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.hemispherx.net.
Contact(s):
William A. Carter, M.D., Chairman & CEO, Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. (215) 988-0080
Dianne Will, Investor Relations, (518) 398-6222, Fax: (518) 398-6223
Bob Giordano, Public Relations, KCSA, (212) 896-1289
HEB's Web Site: www.hemispherx.net
Information contained in this news release other than historical information, including the referenced HIV and CFS drug testing, should all be considered forward-looking and are subject to various risk factors and uncertainties. For instance, the strategies and operations of Hemispherx involve risks of competition, changing market conditions, changes in laws and regulations affecting these industries and numerous other factors discussed in this release and in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Accordingly, actual results may differ materially from those in any forward looking statements. Additionally, all the referenced investigational drugs and associated technologies of the company are experimental in nature and as such are not designated safe and effective by a regulatory authority for general use and are legally available only through clinical trials with the referenced disorders. The forward-looking statements represent the Company's judgement as of the date of this release. The Company disclaims, however, any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements. |
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