Aethlon Medical to Initiate Hepatitis-C Trials; Clinical Programs in India to Be Managed in Conjunction with HIV/AIDS Studies
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 23, 2005--Aethlon Medical, Inc. (OTCBB:AEMD) announced today that it plans to initiate clinical trials to treat patients infected with the Hepatitis-C Virus (HCV) in India. According to the World Health Organization, HCV is a global disease with approximately 170 million persons or 3% of the world's population infected. It is estimated that up to 50% of the infected population is not responsive to treatment with current drug regimens.
Sunil Sawhney, the former Director of Boston Scientific India, and other regulatory advisors from Qualtran, LLC will manage the HCV trials in India, as well as trials related to the treatment of HIV, the AIDS virus. Site selection for both trials is underway, and patient enrollment is expected to begin in the coming months.
Aethlon CEO James A. Joyce stated, "Initiating studies to treat humans infected with Hepatitis-C is a natural progression of our science. Especially when considering the pre-clinical evidence that our Hemopurifier(TM) treatment technology has multi-pathogen binding capabilities, including the simultaneous capture of both HCV and HIV from the blood of infected patients."
About Aethlon Medical
Aethlon Medical is pioneering the development of viral filtration devices to treat HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis-C (HCV), and pathogens that are mass casualty biological warfare candidates. Each treatment application employs the use of a proprietary technology known as the Hemopurifier(TM), which is designed to rapidly reduce the presence of infectious disease and toxins in the body. The Hemopurifier converges the established scientific principals of affinity chromatography and hemodialysis as a means to augment the immune response of clearing viruses and toxins from the blood before cell and organ infection can occur. More information on Aethlon Medical and the Hemopurifier technology is available at www.aethlonmedical.com.
Certain of the statements herein may be forward-looking and involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements involve assumptions, known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Aethlon Medical, Inc. to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such potential risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the Company's ability to raise capital when needed, the Company's ability to complete the development of its planned products, the ability of the Company to obtain FDA and other regulatory approvals permitting the sale of its products, the Company's ability to manufacture its products and provide its services, the impact of government regulations, patent protection on the Company's proprietary technology, product liability exposure, uncertainty of market acceptance, competition, technological change, and other risk factors. In such instances, actual results could differ materially as a result of a variety of factors, including the risks associated with the effect of changing economic conditions and other risk factors detailed in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Aethlon Medical Inc. (ticker: AEMD, exchange: OTC Bulletin Board (.OB)) News Release - Wednesday, February 23, 2005
CONTACT: Aethlon Medical, Inc.
James A. Joyce, 858-459-7800 x301 jj@aethlonmedical.com
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Investor Awareness, Inc.
Tony Schor, 847-945-2222 info@investorawareness.com
SOURCE: Aethlon Medical, Inc.