AVI BioPharma to Testify Before Congressional Committee on Bioterrorism Research and Development
PORTLAND, Ore. — June 9, 2005 — AVI BioPharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVII), today announced that Alan P. Timmins, AVI’s president and COO, will testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on Bioterrorism and Public Health Preparedness. The hearing will examine the challenges of bringing to the fore promising new medical treatments to address bioterror and other public health threats.
Timmins was invited to speak on a panel discussion titled, “Crossing the Valley of Death: Bringing Promising Medical Countermeasures to BioShield.” His testimony will provide the perspective of one of a small number of companies with technology applicable to biodefense and other serious public health issues. In addition to describing the company’s unique, proprietary technology, NeuGene® antisense, Timmins will present his insights into how the government can streamline the advance of this and other promising technologies in the public interest.
“Our continued work with government and academic scientists supports our extensive history of using this rapid response antisense technology to target a variety of viruses and toxins listed as bioterror and public health threats,” Timmins said. “Receiving an invitation to testify before the committee from Senator Richard Burr, chairman of the Subcommittee on Bioterrorism and Public Health Preparedness, is a true honor. We believe this invitation results from the strength of our technology, and our efforts to ensure that policymakers understand the potential of this technology for treating heretofore unassailable infectious disease agents and toxins.”
AVI is researching several biodefense and public health areas in collaboration with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). AVI’s NeuGene antisense agents are being tested against multiple viruses, including dengue, Ebola and Marburg, as well as lethal toxins, such as those from anthrax and ricin. In 2004, AVI was allocated $5 million from the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations for two AVI infectious disease programs.
AVI’s NeuGene rapid response therapeutics are well-suited to combating new and reemerging infectious diseases that threaten public health. NeuGenes are synthetic compounds that mirror a critical portion of a disease-causing organism’s genetic code and bind to specific portions of the target genetic sequence. Like a key in a lock, NeuGene antisense compounds are designed to match up precisely with a specific gene or viral sequence, blocking the function of the target gene or virus. AVI’s research program has produced antisense drugs shown to be active against a range of single-stranded RNA viruses, including West Nile virus (WNV), dengue virus, SARS coronavirus, hepatitis C virus, influenza virus and Ebola virus.
The hearing is scheduled for Thursday, June 9, at 2 p.m. EDT in room 430 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. Timmins’ testimony will also be available on the AVI Web site at www.avibio.com.
About AVI BioPharma
AVI BioPharma develops therapeutic products for the treatment of life-threatening diseases using third-generation NeuGene® antisense drugs. AVI’s lead NeuGene antisense compound is designed to target cell proliferation disorders, including cardiovascular restenosis, cancer and polycystic kidney disease. 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 West Nile virus, hepatitis C virus, dengue virus and Ebola virus. More information about AVI is available on the company’s Web site at www.avibio.com.
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