Aethlon Medical CEO Note: Bill Gates on the Threat of Bioterrorism

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Aethlon Medical, Inc. (Nasdaq: AEMD), today released the following note authored by its Chairman and CEO, Jim Joyce.

In a chilling address at the Munich Security Conference last Saturday, Bill Gates warned world leaders that a genetically engineered virus could kill more people than nuclear weapons. Mr. Gates expressed his concern, which is also supported by U.S. and U.K. intelligence agencies, that scientific terrorists have access to the necessary tools to design biological viruses to be weapons that could kill tens of millions of people. He also concluded that in the face of such knowledge, governments around the world remain complacent and are neither prepared nor equipped to respond to these threats.

If you are a shareholder of Aethlon Medical, you may recognize the concerns of Mr. Gates to be eerily similar to our own. As a recent example, I encourage you to review the bioterror related article that we published last year on the 21st of December.

http://aethlonmedical.investorroom.com/2016-12-21-Passage-of-the-21st-Century-Cures-Act-and-its-Potential-Implications-on-Biodefense

For those dedicated to the advancement of bioterror treatment solutions, Mr. Gates is a welcome and respected voice with the visibility, influence and knowledge to recognize that therapeutic innovation will be required to counter deadly viruses created by man.

If bioterrorists were to release such a virus, I am sincerely unaware of a clinical-stage candidate beyond our Hemopurifier® that could be deployed as a post-exposure treatment countermeasure.

The void in bioterrorism treatment countermeasures is driven by a historic emphasis to align a disease-specific drug or vaccine which only targets one specific pathogen threat. Such strategies have had limited success against the breadth of threats that are known to be infectious to man and cannot be considered as a strategy to treat unknown viruses created by man.

In reality, only a fraction of the 300+ viruses known to be infectious to man are addressed with an FDA-cleared drug or vaccine.  Since 2001, our government has spent an estimated $80 billion on biodefense initiatives, yet just one of 13 viruses classified as "Category A" are addressed with an approved therapy.  "Category A" pathogens are those biological threats that pose the highest risk to national security and public health.  In addition, these types of viral pathogens maintain the potential to be genetically engineered to be used as weapons that are even more deadly and resistant than those viruses that are naturally occurring.

Our Hemopurifier® is a first-in-class medical technology currently being advanced in FDA approved studies.  In previous studies, our technology has demonstrated the ability to capture a wide range of bioterror related, pandemic, chronic and latent infectious viral pathogens. 

We believe the Hemopurifier® can fulfill the broad-spectrum medical countermeasure objective of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasure Enterprise (PHEMCE).  This initiative is directed toward bioterror, pandemic threats and other pathogens that are not well addressed with traditional drug or vaccine therapies.

A little more than a decade ago, we were invited to attend an international scientific symposium hosted by the National Center for Biodefense. At the time, our Hemopurifier® was still a development-stage vision. Regardless, the keynote speaker, who formerly led the Soviet Union's biological weapons program, emphasized our approach to be the only way to counter the breadth of viruses that could emerge naturally through mother nature or be created by man as agents of bioterror.

We never forgot that statement.

About the Aethlon Hemopurifier®

The Aethlon Hemopurifier® is a first-in-class medical technology currently being advanced in FDA approved studies as a broad-spectrum treatment countermeasure against infectious viral pathogens.  Named a "Top 25 Invention" and one of the "Eleven Most Remarkable Advances in Healthcare," by TIME Magazine, the Hemopurifier® has previously been administered to individuals infected with Ebola virus, Hepatitis C virus and the Human Immunodeficiency virus, which leads to HIV AIDS.

Beyond human treatment experiences, pre-clinical Hemopurifier® studies have validated the capture of Chikungunya, Dengue, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, West Nile and Zika virus, as well as Vaccinia and Monkey pox, which serve as models for human Smallpox infection.  Specific to pandemic influenza threats, Aethlon has validated the capture of H5N1 avian flu, H1N1 swine flu, and the reconstructed 1918 influenza virus, which represents a model for the strain of influenza that killed an estimated 50 million victims in 1918 and 1919.

The Hemopurifier has also been demonstrated to capture Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Herpes Simplex virus 1 (HSV1), which are latent viruses often associated with increased mortality in immune-suppressed sepsis patients.  These pathogens also contribute to organ rejection in transplant patients.  To validate treatment performance, the Hemopurifier is supported by the HP Virus Capture Assay, which quantifies the number of viruses captured within the Hemopurifier and no longer circulating in the patient. 

About Aethlon Medical

Aethlon Medical (AEMD) is a leading developer of immunotherapeutic technologies to combat infectious disease and cancer.  To augment the body's natural immune defenses, the Aethlon Hemopurifier® eliminates life-threatening disease targets that are often shielded from the immune system and not well addressed by traditional drug therapies. The technology captures circulating viruses, bacterial toxins and cancer promoting exosomes through affinity attachment to a unique structure that cloaks these targets from immune detection. At present, the Hemopurifier® is being advanced under an FDA approved clinical study. Aethlon is also the majority owner of Exosome Sciences, Inc., a company focused on the discovery of exosomal biomarkers to diagnose and monitor life-threatening diseases.  Aethlon is part of the Russell Microcap® Index.  Additional information can be found online at www.AethlonMedical.com or you can connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Google+.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that involve risks and uncertainties. Statements containing words such as "may," "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "project," "will," "projections," "estimate," or similar expressions constitute forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties and actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Factors that may contribute to such differences include, without limitation, the Company's ability to maintain its listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market, or any other national securities exchange, that the Company or its subsidiary will not be able to commercialize its products, that the FDA will not approve the initiation or continuation of the Company's clinical programs or provide market clearance of the Company's products, including any products relating to the Zika or MERS-CoV viruses or relating to sepsis, the Company's ability to raise capital when needed, the Company's ability to complete the development of its planned products, the Company's ability to manufacture its products either internally or through outside companies, the impact of government regulations, patent protection on the Company's proprietary technology, the ability of the Company to meet the milestones contemplated in its contract with DARPA, product liability exposure, uncertainty of market acceptance, competition, technological change, and other risk factors. The foregoing list of risks and uncertainties is illustrative, but is not exhaustive. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements can be found under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2016, and in the Company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as may be required by law, the Company does not intend, nor does it undertake any duty, to update this information to reflect future events or circumstances.

Contacts:

Jim Frakes
Chief Financial Officer
Aethlon Medical, Inc.
858-489-7800 extension 3300
Jfrakes@aethlonmedical.com

 

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SOURCE Aethlon Medical, Inc.