AVI BioPharma to Present at the 6th Annual Biodefense Vaccines and Therapeutics Meeting
June 09 2008 - 8:00AM
Marketwired
PORTLAND, OR today announced that Patrick Iversen, Ph.D., AVI's
Senior Vice President of Strategic Alliances, will make the opening
presentation of the Pre-Conference Symposium to the 6th Annual
Biodefense Vaccines & Therapeutics Meeting to be held June
9-11, 2008 in Washington, D.C. The Symposium is titled
"Developments in Biodefense Vaccines & Therapeutics" and Dr.
Iversen's presentation is "Multiple Phosphorodiamidate Morpholino
Oligomer Approaches to Developing Antiviral Therapeutics."
This is an invitation-only meeting at which Dr. Iversen will
principally outline AVI's progress on the development of its
therapeutic drugs against agents on the bioterrorism list, in
particular Ebola, Marburg and Dengue viruses.
In May of this year, the company announced that treatment of
non-human primates with either the antisense drug AVI-6002 or with
AVI-6003, resulted in a reproducible and high rate of survival in
the face of an otherwise lethal infection with Ebola or Marburg
virus, respectively. Treatment of mice with AVI compounds designed
for the treatment of Dengue virus infection have also resulted in
reproducible and high rates of survival in the face of otherwise
lethal infections.
About Ebola Zaire, Marburg Musoke and Dengue Viruses
Ebola Zaire virus has been the most frequent cause of field
outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever and is endemic to sub-Saharan
Africa. Ebola hemorrhagic fever is a rare disease that can be
fatal. Outbreaks first occurred in 1976 in Zaire and in western
Sudan. A recent outbreak occurred in November of 2007 in Uganda
ending in January of 2008. Infected individuals develop high
fevers, headache, muscle aches, vomiting, and abdominal cramping.
In fatal infections, bleeding is observed from the nose, eyes,
rectum and urethra. There is uniform mortality once hemorrhagic
signs appear as a result of exposure to the Ebola Zaire virus.
Marburg Musoke virus is the cause of Marburg hemorrhagic fever,
a rare disease that occurs naturally in sub-Saharan Africa. Marburg
hemorrhagic fever was first described in 1967 when outbreaks in
Germany and the former Yugoslavia were linked to monkeys imported
from Uganda. The symptoms include fever, diarrhea, vomiting,
massive bleeding from multiple organs and shock. Death generally
occurs between 5 and 10 days after the onset of symptoms.
Marburg and Ebola viruses are both members of the filoviridae
viral family and both are National Institutes of Allergy and
Infectious Disease (NIAID) priority A pathogens and bioterrorism
suspect agents of interest to Bioshield.
Dengue virus is a member of the flaviviridae viral family and is
also an NIAID priority A pathogen. Dengue virus is the cause of a
complex of clinical syndromes referred to as Dengue fever-dengue
hemorrhagic fever. Dengue is transmitted primarily by Aedes aegypti
mosquitos, so the infection is geographically located primarily in
tropical climates of the world. Dengue produces more human illness
than any other insect-transmitted viral disease. There are
currently no commercially available vaccines, chemoprophylactics,
or effective therapeutics for dengue.
About AVI BioPharma
AVI BioPharma develops therapeutic products for the treatment of
life-threatening diseases using third-generation NeuGene� antisense
drugs and alternative RNA splicing technology. AVI's alternative
RNA splicing technology is initially being applied to potential
treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. AVI's NeuGene compounds
are also designed to treat cardiovascular restenosis. In addition
to targeting specific genes in the body, AVI's antiviral program
uses NeuGene antisense compounds to combat disease by targeting
single-stranded RNA viruses, including Marburg Musoke and Ebola
Zaire viruses. More information about AVI is available at
www.avibio.com.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995: The statements that are not historical facts
contained in this release are forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the
results of research and development efforts, the results of
preclinical and clinical testing, the effect of regulation by the
FDA and other agencies, the impact of competitive products, product
development, commercialization and technological difficulties, and
other risks detailed in the company's Securities and Exchange
Commission filings.
AVI Press and Investor Contact: Michael Hubbard Email Contact
Director of Corporate Communications (503) 227-0554
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