PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 2, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. (NYSE Amex:HEB) (the "Company"), announced that Dr. Jonathan S. Berek, Professor and Chair, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Stanford University School of Medicine, presented new data on Ampligen(R) (Poly I : Poly C12U) at the Pacific Coast Oncology Gynecology Society Meeting, La Jolla, California, on October 1, 2009. The paper, entitled "Enhancing Dendritic Cell (DC) and Antibody Immunotherapy with Toll Receptor (TLR Agonists)," discusses the incorporation of a periodic "danger signal" into treatment regimens with a TLR3 agonist such as Poly I : Poly C12U and suggests such regimens may have broad potential application to boost the effects of immunotherapies of cancer.
Ampligen(R) (Poly I : Poly C12U), an experimental immunotherapeutic, is also being actively pursued as a pandemic influenza vaccine enhancer (Japanese National Institute of Infectious Diseases) and as potential monotherapy for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), in which the Company has a commercial application (NDA, new drug application) submitted and under review.
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(R) (FDA approved for a category of sexually transmitted diseases) and the experimental therapeutics Ampligen(R) Oragens(R), and Alferon LDO. Ampligen(R) and Oragens(R) 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 50 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(R) LDO and Oragens(R)) 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 NDA filing process with Ampligen(R) does not imply that the product will ever be approved commercially.