PHILADELPHIA, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 1, 1996--HEMISPHERx  Biopharma, Inc.
(NASDAQ:HEMX) announced today that it began shipment  of Ampligen (R) to
Rivex Biopharma, Inc. (Aurora, Ontario).  Ampligen  will be administered in
Canada under the Emergency Drug Release  Program, at the request of Canadian
physicians. 

Ampligen may be used for treatment of patients suffering from  Chronic
Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS), also known  as Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis  (ME).  It has also been
found to have activity against HIV,  Hepititis B, and in the treatment of
Metastatic Renal Cell Cancer. 

CFIDS is a multisystem syndrome characterized by months of  debilitating
fatigue frequently associated with myalgia, headache,  sore throat, low grade
fever and tender lymph nodes.  The medical  community estimates that
approximately 400,000 people suffer from  CFIDS in the United States.  The
illness interferes with every-day  simple tasks such as walking, driving a
car, and remembering  appointments, and it causes some patients to become bed
ridden. 

In the United States, additional information about Chronic  Fatigue Syndrome
can be obtained from the National CFIDS Association  by calling
1-800-442-3437. 

Ampligen is an antiviral and immune modulatory drug under the  nucleic acid
class of drugs (NAs).  Nas are drugs designed to mimic  the body's own
digitized informational molecules (called DNA and  RNA) which, in some
laboratory and animal studies, reprogram  certain diseased cells to enhance
their intrinsic disease fighting  capabilities. 

Over the last several years, HEMISPHERx has conducted clinical  and
laboratory investigations of NAs in more than twenty major academic  research
institutions in the United States.  Abroad, Ampligen is  currently used in a
clinical program with cost recovery in Belgium  in academic partnership with
Kenny De Meirleir, M.D., Ph.D, from the  University of Brussels Akademisch
Ziekenhuis.  An update on the  Belgium program will be presented in San
Francisco on October 14th  at the 1996 American Association for Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome  (AACFS) Research and Clinical Conference. 

HEMISPHERx is a pharmaceutical company engaged in the  manufacture and global
clinical development of drugs entities in the  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 protect its
proprietary position in NA  and related drug technologies. 

CONTACT:  

HEMISPHERx Biopharma, Inc. 

R. Douglas Hulse, COO 

215/988-0080 

or 

VMW, Inc. 

Vicki Miles Weiner, 212/605-3140 

VMWeiner@aol.com 

KEYWORD: PENNSYLVANIA 

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: PHARMACEUTICAL BIOTECHNOLOGY MEDICINE PRODUCT 



BW1276  OCT 01,1996