Hemispherx Announces Major Clinical, Regulatory Progress in Recognizing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

PHILADELPHIA (PROTEXT) - Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. (Amex:HEB, HEBws) today announced that a major European country, forthe first time in European Union (EU) history, had formallyrecognized Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) as a severe chronicdisease and was taking immediate steps to alleviate the resultanthuman suffering and economic devastation. In announcing the first official recognition of CFS today, theMinistry of Social Affairs of Belgium stated, "We will adapthealth-care regulations to help overcome financial problems andsponsor treatment and start up some dedicated treatment centersfor patients with CFS." Hemispherx's lead compound, Ampligen(R),is currently in advanced testing in both Europe and NorthAmerica. Dedicated Treatment Centers Hemispherx said that it was pleased with the aggressive "goforward" approach now being implemented by Belgian federal healthauthorities and that it expected other EU countries to followtheir lead. The Company noted that the new dedicated treatmentcenters coincided well with its clinical and corporate presencein Belgium, which was already targeted to the major CFS healthissues. The Company stated that this progressive new attitude was alsowell received by CFS physicians/specialists who evaluate manyyoung people afflicted with CFS. These patients, in the absenceof effective therapy, embark on years of a bed-ridden conditionassociated with pain and progressive intellectual deterioration. New Academic Study on CFS In a related discovery, which was just published in the peer-reviewed medical journal, (Archives of Physical Medicine andRehabilitation, Vol. 80, p. 1090, 1999), distinguishedresearchers at the New Jersey Medical School followed a group ofCFS patients for four years. In the first-of-its-kind study,these independent researchers observed that only 4% of thepatients with severe CFS ever recover without treatment. In thisregard, Hemispherx said that new pharmacoeconomic data onAmpligen(R), developed by independent health-care specialists andrecently presented at the 2nd World CFS Conference in Brussels,would now be submitted to the Belgian authorities on anaccelerated basis to further facilitate the process of drugreimbursement for severely ill CFS patients. Increase Incidence of CFS Hemispherx also noted that another new report by researchersat DePaul University in Chicago (just published in the Archivesof Internal Medicine) found approximately twice as many patientswith severe CFS in the United States than was reported even ayear ago by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), an officialbranch of the U.S. government. At the Boston International CFSConference, October 1998, the CDC had reported approximately500,000 cases meeting strict diagnostic criteria for CFS, but themajor new academic study suggests more than 1 million Americansare afflicted with CFS. Information contained in this news release other thanhistorical information, should be considered forward-looking andis subject to various risk factors and uncertainties. Forinstance, the strategies and operations of Hemispherx involverisks of competition, changing market conditions, changes in lawsand regulations affecting these industries and numerous otherfactors discussed in this release and in the Company's filingswith the Securities and Exchange Commission. Accordingly, actualresults may differ materially from those in any forward-lookingstatements. 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 Web site:http://www.hemispherx.com

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