PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 24, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hemispherx Biopharma (NYSE MKT:HEB) announced today that the full text of the Hemispherx presentation given at the National Press Club (NPC) Conference in Washington, DC, on January 30, 2014 is being posted on the corporate website (www.hemispherx.net ). The NPC presentation followed the announcement of new clinical data at the American Society of Microbiology (ASM) Biodefense Conference in Washington, DC, on January 29, 2014. Brief summaries of the clinical results were thereafter published on February 10, 2014 in Drug Discovery News (http://www.ddn-news.com/index.php?newsarticle=8120 ) entitled Hemispherx Biopharma reports progress toward a universal influenza vaccine to prevent pandemic threats and on January 30, 2014 in Science Business Tech News (http://sciencebusiness.technewslit.com/?p=16676 ) entitled Early Trial Finds Vaccine Booster Covers Pandemic Flu Types.
This clinical effort is the culmination of several years of research including primate testing on the development of a broad spectrum, pandemic influenza vaccine, initiated at the Japanese National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan. The present clinical work is in collaboration with the University of Alabama Vaccine Research Clinic, Birmingham, Alabama. The present research is being conducted with FluMist®, a commercially available intranasal seasonal influenza vaccine, and the Company anticipates the extension of this clinical research with other promising seasonal influenza vaccines to determine the extent, if any, of cross-reactivity conveyed by co-administration of the selective TLR-3 activator, rintatolimod, which is an experimental immunotherapeutic.
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® 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, including Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Hemispherx's platform technology includes components for potential treatment of various severely debilitating and life threatening diseases. Because both Ampligen® and Alferon® LDO are experimental in nature, they are not designated safe and effective by a regulatory authority for general use and are legally available only through clinical trials. Hemispherx has patents comprising its core intellectual property estate and a fully commercialized product (Alferon N Injection®), approved for sale in the U.S. and Argentina. The Company's Alferon N approval in Argentina includes the use of Alferon N Injection (under the brand name "Naturaferon") for use in any patients who fail or become intolerant to recombinant interferon, including patients with chronic active hepatitis C infection. 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.
About University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center
Fellows and faculty actively participate in teaching and patient care at the three major hospitals within the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center. Their strong clinical presence is evidenced by two separate consult services (one in the 1100 bed University Hospital which focuses on opportunistic infections in compromised hosts such as BM and solid organ transplant recipients, bone/joint and CNS infections in orthopedic, trauma and neurosurgical patients, and infections in neutropenic/cancer patients; another service combines HIV/AIDS consultation at University Hospital and general infectious diseases consultation at the VA Medical Center and the county hospital). ID faculty and fellows also provide care in a cross-section of ambulatory clinics which target general ID, HIV/AIDS, STD, tuberculosis and international travel.
Forward-Looking Statements
The foregoing release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by words such as "will be, investigative, interim" or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential efficacy for Hemispherx's Ampligen®, or regarding potential future revenues from Ampligen®. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of Management regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that Ampligen® will receive regulatory approval or be commercially successful in the future. In particular, management's expectations regarding Ampligen® could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including unexpected clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; unexpected regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; the Company's ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; general economic and industry conditions; global trends toward health care cost containment, including ongoing pricing pressures; unexpected manufacturing issues, and other risks and factors described in Hemispherx's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the most recent reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Hemispherx is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Disclosure Notice
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, 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. The planning, completion, results or submission of clinical trials mentioned in this press release and, or the presentation given at the National Press Club (NPC) Conference in Washington, DC, on January 30, 2014 do not imply that any study product will ever be approved commercially for the studied or other treatment indications.
CONTACT: Company/Investor Contact:
Charles Jones
CJones & Associates Public Relations
888-557-6480
cjones@cjonespr.com
