PHILADELPHIA, May 3 /PRNewswire/ -- HemispheRx Biopharma, Inc. ("HemispheRx")
(Nasdaq: HEMXU) announced today that Helix BioPharma Corp ("Helix") of
British Columbia, Canada, has been authorized to supply Ampligen(R), under
the Emergency Drug Release Program of Canada's Health Protection Branch.
This authorization means that the drug will become immediately available in
Canada to sufferers of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), which is an extremely
debilitating condition with no previously approved treatments in the U.S. or
Canada. 

On April 17, 1996, HemispheRx, the developer and manufacturer of Ampligen(R)
reported that it had entered into a strategic alliance with Helix for the
joint development of Ampligen(R) in Canada.  Preliminary clinical studies
have been recently published by HemispheRx suggesting that Ampligen(R) may be
beneficial to certain patients suffering from CFS.  Helix is currently in
discussion with HemispheRx concerning carrying out clinical trials in Canada
in order to assess further the potential value of Ampligen(R) in the
treatment of CFS. 

HemispheRx is a pharmaceutical company (with corporate headquarters in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and manufacturing facilities in Rockville,
Maryland) engaged in the manufacture and global clinical development of new
drug entities of the nucleic acid (NA) class for chronic viral diseases and
disorders of the immune system.  To date, HemispheRx and its subsidiaries
have received over 200 patents internationally to establish its proprietary
position in NA and related drug technologies. 

CO:  HemispheRx Biopharma, Inc.; Helix BioPharma Corp 

ST:  Pennsylvania, British Columbia 

IN:  MTC 

SU:  PDT 

05/03/96 09:02 EDT