HEMISPHERx Expands European CFS Treatment Programs via Targeted Networks of Medical Centers

PHILADELPHIA (PROTEXT) - HEMISPHERx Biopharma, Inc. (Amex: HEB; HEBws) announced today the roll-out of a new pan-European, expanded access treatment utilizing its flagship product, Ampligen(R) being developed for the severe forms of CFS/ME. In December, 1998, the Company's subsidiary, Hemispherx Europe, filed a full marketing application with the European Medical Evaluation Agency (EMEA) which is presently under review. Until today, the Company's cost recovery Ampligen treatment program was only available in Belgium and Austria. Effective immediately, in response to growing requests from physicians and patients, the Company announced it would support expanded access treatment requests from pre-qualified medical centers and physicians in France and Italy with similar programs in other major countries ramping up shortly. Ampligen is the only pharmaceutical product under advanced clinical development for CFS/ME in both the European and North American markets. CFS/ME can result in a severe chronic bedridden condition with loss of mental faculties. To implement the program, the Company will establish a network of clinical centers with comprehensive expertise in CFS, termed Fatigue Approved Clinical Treatment Centers (FACT). FACT centers, modeled on successful AIDS treatment centers in the U.S. and elsewhere, will be centers of medical excellence combining state of the art diagnostic programs with well-developed treatment expertise. The Company stated that the medical outcomes with Ampligen treatment were fully discussed at the September, 1999, 2nd International CFS Conference in Brussels, Belgium, and that the new diagnostic procedures being developed by RED Laboratories, a collaborative partner of Hemispherx, would be presented in a major international peer-reviewed medical publication within the next several weeks. Managing Director of the new enterprise will be Manuel Gea, formerly on the executive marketing staff of Boehringer Ingelheim. The Company said Mr. Gea was already well recognized in Europe as a 21st century medical communications strategist who already had a successful track record in creating effective networks, including internet services, to bring together major parts of the healthcare universe (doctors, insurers, healthcare workers, patient groups, etc.) for achieving shared goals. The innovative network structure of the overall FACT organization - flexible, cost-controlled, and electronically interconnected - will make information transfer more efficient and effective while dramatically reducing the large overhead historically associated with traditional pharmaceutical market development teams. 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 risks 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. Accordingly, actual results may differ materially from those in any forward looking statements. ots Original Text Service: HEMISPHERx Biopharma, Inc. Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: William A. Carter, M.D., CEO & Chairman of HEMISPHERx Biopharma, Inc., 215- 988-0080; or William Jenks, Institutional Investors, 212-232- 2222, or fax, 212-232-3232, for HEMISPHERx Biopharma, Inc.; or Manuel Gea, gea.m.83m@centraliens.fr; or Harris Freedman, Investor Relations, 212-572-0763, fax, 212-572-0764, both for HEMISPHERx Biopharma, Inc. Web site: http://www.hemispherx.com Subscribers please note that material bearing the slug "PROTEXT" is not part of CTK's news service and is not to be published under the "CTK" slug. Protext is a commercial service providing distribution of press releases from clients, who are identified in the text of Protext reports and who bear full responsibility for their contents. PROTEXT