Canadian Drug Companies

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HEB NR 04/03/06 3.19

Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. Announces Delay in Filing Its Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2005


2006-04-03 09:27 ET - News Release

PHILADELPHIA -- (Business Wire) -- April 3, 2006
Company Website: http://www.hemispherx.net

Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. (AMEX:HEB) (the "Company")
announced today that it would not be filing its annual report on Form
10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2005, on March 31, 2006,
the extended due date.
During the preparation of the Company's annual report on Form 10-K
for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2005, after discussions with
the audit committee and BDO Seidman, LLP, the Company's Independent
Registered Public Accounting Firm, and after doing additional analysis
on guidelines set forth in EITF 00-27: Application of Issue No. 98-5
to Certain Convertible Instruments, it was determined that an
incorrect accounting principle was applied to certain Debentures and
Warrants issued between March 2003 and August 2005, which impacted the
Company's financial statements between March 2003 and September 2005,
specifically, the initial recording of the embedded conversion feature
of the Debentures and the related fair value of related warrants as
well as certain Debenture and Warrant price resets.
All of the above issues relate to accounting for convertible debt,
additional paid-in capital and related non-cash financing charges.
These non-cash charges do not affect the Company's revenues, cash
flows from past or future operations, or its liquidity.
After discussions with the audit committee and BDO Seidman, LLP,
the Company's Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm, the Audit
Committee agreed with management's recommendations and concluded that
the previously issued financial statements included in the Forms 10-Q
and Forms 10-K for the periods ended from March 31, 2003 to December
31, 2005, should not be relied upon.
The Company has filed its Form 10-K for the year ended December
31, 2005 (the "Report") without audited financial statements. The
anticipated restatements of the Company's financial statements for the
years ended December 31, 2003 and 2004 are contained therein. As
audited financial statements are not contained in the Report, the
Report does not satisfy all requirements under the Securities Exchange
Act and, therefore, is deficient. Based on representations from BDO
Seidman, LLP, the Company anticipates that it will file an amendment
to the Report containing audited financial statements within the next
30 days, and file its Forms 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2005
and 2004, June 30, 2005 and 2004, and September 30, 2005 and 2004 as
soon as practicable thereafter.

About Hemispherx Biopharma

Hemispherx Biopharma, based in Philadelphia, is a
biopharmaceutical company engaged in the manufacture and clinical
development of new drug entities for treatment of viral and
immune-based chronic disorders. Hemispherx Biopharma's flagship
products include Alferon(R) and the experimental
immunotherapeutics/antivirals Ampligen(R) and Oragens(TM). Alferon(R)
is approved for a category of STD infection, and Ampligen(R) and
Oragens(TM) represent experimental nucleic acids being developed for
globally important viral diseases and disorders of the immune system.
Hemispherx's platform technology includes large and small agent
components for potential treatment of various chronic viral
infections. Hemispherx has in excess of 140 patents comprising its
core intellectual property estate, a fully commercialized product
(Alferon(R) N) and GMP certified manufacturing facilities for its
novel pharma products. For more information please visit
www.hemispherx.net

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 risk of competition, changing
market conditions, change 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. Any
specifically referenced investigational drugs and associated
technologies of the company (including Ampligen(R), Alferon(R) LDO and
Oragens) are experimental in nature and as such are not designated
safe and effective by a regulatory authority for general use and are
legally available only through clinical trials with the referenced
disorders. The forward-looking statements represent the Company's
judgment as of the date of this release. The Company disclaims,
however, any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking
statements. Clinical trials for other potential indications of the
approved biologic Alferon(R) do not imply that the product will ever
be specifically approved commercially for these other treatment
indications.
Contacts:

Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc.
Company Contact:
Dianne Will, 518-398-6222
[e-mail]
or
Media Contact:
Neale-May & Partners
Digs Majumder, 212-213-5400 x 206
[e-mail]