Hemispherx BioPharma (HEB)

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Hemispherx Biopharma Introduces a Voluntary Stock Purchase Plan to Create Shareholder Value

Hemispherx Biopharma Introduces a Voluntary Stock Purchase Plan to Create Shareholder Value

Senior Management, Entire Board of Directors, and 100% of All Employees Participate

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 03, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. (NYSE MKT:HEB) announced today, February 3, 2016, a Voluntary Pay for Stock Plan (the "Plan"). Hemispherx Biopharma is seeking to create ownership incentives as well as to provide additional cash for various operational activities. All members of Senior Management, all members of the Board of Directors, and all employees volunteered to participate. Senior Management believes that this Plan creates significant shareholder value as the participants will voluntarily use up to 20% of their salaries to purchase stock from the Company, creating long term incentives for them to reach corporate goals. In addition, the CEO/Chairman and President/CFO, will both voluntarily reduce their salaries further to a cumulative reduction of 50%. The plan goes into effect immediately. "We are all excited for the opportunity to invest in Hemispherx's future," said Hemispherx's Chairman and CEO, Dr. William A. Carter, "Our efforts will be redoubled in 2016 to make progress on all of our major goals."

Foremost, in the major goal categories are: a) accelerating success in the recently initiated Expanded Access programs globally for both Ampligen (an experimental therapeutic) and Alferon N; b) achieving further regulatory progress with Ampligen as a potential biotherapeutic for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) treatment; c) advancing new clinical tests in cancer immunotherapy, including potential treatment of metastatic colon cancer wherein all "standard of care" therapies have faltered; and expanding research on the use of our experimental drug Ampligen and Alferon N as an early onset broad spectrum antivirals for diseases such as MERS, Ebola virus, Equine Encephalitis and, given the new pandemic threat, the Zika virus. Previous studies (preclinical) have shown that both Ampligen and interferon are active against the flavivirus family of viruses which includes the West Nile virus and Zika virus.