Replies to post #14124 on Hemispherx BioPharma (HEB)

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Hemispherx Biopharma and United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) Agree to Collaborate in Studying Alferon(R) and Ampligen(R) Against the Ebola Virus

Ebola Studies to be Conducted at USAMRIID's Laboratories at Ft. Detrick, Maryland

PHILADELPHIA, Sep 08, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE via COMTEX) -- Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. (NYSE MKT:HEB) (the "Company" or "Hemispherx"), announced that the Company and USAMRIID scientists have agreed to test Alferon(R), the only multi-species, natural alpha interferon (IFN) commercially approved in the U.S. and Ampligen(R), an experimental drug, to be evaluated against the deadly Ebola virus, which has been and remains a major focus of efforts at USAMRIID, a unit of the Department of Defense responsible for medical biological defense research.
USAMRIID reported in July of this year (http://www.usamriid.army.mil/press_releases/Randy_Final_EID_July_2014.pdf) that samples from suspected Lassa fever cases in Sierra Leone showed that about two-thirds of the patients had been exposed to other emerging diseases, and nearly nine percent tested positive for Ebola virus. The study, published in this July's edition of Emerging Infectious Diseases, demonstrates that Ebola virus has been circulating in the region since at least 2006--well before the current outbreak, which is responsible for over 1000 deaths according to the WHO. Consequently, Ebola has been and remains a major focus of efforts at USAMRIID and the Department of Defense.

Early events in Ebola virus infection influence the patient's ability to develop an effective immune response. The success of Ebola virus replication is dependent on viral inhibition of initial innate immune responses to infection. Disarming innate immune responses is a common mechanism employed by highly pathogenic human viruses that include the influenza and corona viral families. Ebola counteracts the host innate immune response by blocking the cellular production of Type I IFN.

A key component of innate immune responses is activation of the Toll-like receptors (TLRs). TLR3 activation by dsRNA is an essential response element to viral infection. Block TLR3 activation and an essential element of the innate immune response is disarmed. Ampligen, Poly I:Poly C12U (rintatolimod) was designed as an IFN inducer and has demonstrated antiviral activity in a wide variety of DNA and RNA viruses in pre-clinical testing. Replenishing an Ebola patient's natural interferon with Alferon and restoring that patient's innate immune response by Ampligen's overcoming the Ebola blocking mechanisms could potentially reduce the morbidity and mortality of Ebola virus disease.