PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 9, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. (AMEX:HEB) today congratulated Dr. Luc Montagnier on the award of the 2008 Nobel Prize for Medicine for the discovery of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that is responsible for AIDS.
Dr. Montagnier, a member of the Company's Scientific Advisory Board since October, 2003, shared this year's Nobel Prize for Medicine with fellow AIDS researcher Dr. Francoise Barre-Sinousi at the Pasteur Institute in Paris and Dr. Harald zur Hausen of the University of Dusseldorf for his discovery of the link between Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and cervical cancer.
Commenting on the honor, Dr. Montagnier was quoted in The Wall Street Journal as saying, "It comes at a time when much progress has been done in research, but not enough because the epidemic is still there."
Prof. Montagnier, a long term advocate of the widespread use of the experimental biotherapeutic, Alferon LDO, in catastrophic viral infections, such as HIV, especially for developing African nations, was lecturing in the Ivory Coast, when the Nobel Prize was announced. Referring to the recent threat of avian influenza in Forbes.com, Prof. Montagnier had earlier commented: "This is the race we have to win: to sufficiently mobilize the interferon system early enough so it will knock out the virus multiplication before the virus launches its dangerous missile against interferons. One prime candidate for this task already exists. It's a substance called Alferon LDO (bold type added)."
Alferon LDO, (Low Dose Oral Interferon Alfa-n3, Human Leukocyte Derived), is Hemispherx's experimental, oral-delivery form of the Company's FDA-approved drug, Alferon N Injection(r), which is the only natural interferon currently FDA-approved treatment of refractory HPV infection.
Hemispherx has initiated clinical trials as part of an evaluation of Alferon LDO as a potential new experimental therapy for HIV/AIDS and other lethal viral diseases including avian influenza ("bird flu"), which have very high death rates. Clinical trials in early HIV infection have been conducted in the U.S. with the AIDS research organization termed, "Philadelphia Fight," as well as in Hong Kong at the Princess Margaret Hospital utilizing Alferon LDO with healthy volunteers to measure immune boosting capabilities. Overall, the studies are designed to determine whether Alferon LDO, delivered in the new, experimental oral (sublingual) drug delivery format can resuscitate the broad-spectrum antiviral and immunostimulatory genes. These human genes are often shut down by lethal viral infections such as avian flu, smallpox, and HIV/AIDS as noted in Dr. Montagnier's article in Forbes.com.
"All of us at Hemispherx are pleased and honored to have a member of our Scientific Advisory Board, Dr. Luc Montagnier, receive the Nobel Prize for Medicine. We are fortunate to have his insight and experience available to us," said Dr. William A. Carter, Chairman and CEO of Hemispherx. "We are especially appreciative for his leadership in designing and helping to initiate clinical trials to establish the potential role that our experimental therapeutic, Alferon LDO, may have in dreaded viral infections such as HIV/AIDS."
Dr. Montagnier is Chairman of the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention, which he co-founded in 1993, and holds the position of Distinguished Professor at Queens College in New York.
About Hemispherx Biopharma
Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. is a specialty pharma 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(r) (FDA-approved for a category of sexually transmitted diseases) and the experimental therapeutics, Ampligen(r) and Oragens. Ampligen(r) and Oragens represent experimental RNA nucleic acids 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 in excess of 90 issued patents comprising its core intellectual property estate and a fully commercialized product (Alferon N Injection(r)). 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(r), Alferon LDO and Oragens) 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(r) do not imply that the product will ever be specifically approved commercially for these other treatment indications; similarly, the completion of the NDA filing process with Ampligen(r) does not imply that the product will ever be approved commercially.