PHILADELPHIA, July 15, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. (NYSE Amex:HEB) (the "Company") announced that it was publicizing the full technical (unedited) report in Japanese, prepared by Hideki Hasegawa, M.D. Ph.D., Director, Laboratory of Infectious Disease Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Disease (NIID, formerly Japan's National Institute of Health) and the certified English translation. The full report, now available on the Company's website, summarizes the results of a three (3) year Japanese government funded program to develop and test a nasally delivered H5N1 (Avian Flu) vaccine which, when coupled with Ampligen®, an experimental therapeutic, provided a robust and long lasting immune response to the vaccine. The report, entitled "Research on Clinical Applications of Influenza Vaccines Formulated for Nasal Mucosal Delivery" was originally filed with Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW), which fully funded this work in non-human primates. All reports under grants from MHLW are submitted first to MHLW and then forwarded to the National Diet Library to be made available for public review. In response to ongoing inquiries, the Company is publishing the full report. The Company invites continuing dialogue with clinical researchers in influenza as well as epidemiologists monitoring global incidence rates of seasonal and pandemic influenza.
Dr. William Carter, Chairman and CEO of Hemispherx, reiterated that "Dr. Hasegawa's work over the last three years brings into sharp focus Ampligen®'s (an experimental therapeutic) dose-response role in enhancing and extending both the IgA and IgG immune responses and to this vaccine against a pandemic H5N1 virus. The Lancet publication and WHO surveillance data (please see Hemispherx's release of July 12, 2010) highlight the continuing global threat of pandemic influenza and the need to develop novel more effective approaches to disease control."
About Hemispherx Biopharma
Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. is an advanced specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in the manufacture and clinical development of new drug entities for treatment of seriously debilitating disorders. Hemispherx's flagship products include Alferon N Injection® (FDA approved for a category of sexually transmitted diseases) and the experimental therapeutics Ampligen® and Alferon® LDO. Ampligen® is an experimental RNA nucleic acid being developed for globally important debilitating diseases and disorders of the immune system. Hemispherx's platform technology includes large and small agent components for potential treatment of various severely debilitating and life threatening diseases. Hemispherx has an extensive number of patents comprising its core intellectual property estate and a fully commercialized product (Alferon N Injection®). The Company wholly owns and exclusively operates a GMP certified manufacturing facility in the United States for commercial products. For more information please visit www.hemispherx.net.
Information contained in this news release, other than historical information, should be considered forward-looking and is subject to various risk factors and uncertainties. For instance, the strategies and operations of Hemispherx involve risk of competition, changing market conditions, change 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. Any specifically referenced investigational drugs and associated technologies of the Company (including Ampligen® and Alferon® LDO) 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 judgment as of the date of this release. The Company disclaims, however, any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Clinical trials for other potential indications of the approved biologic Alferon N Injection® do not imply that the product will ever be specifically approved commercially for these other treatment indications.