Aethlon Medical Releases Smallpox-Related Data

SAN DIEGO -- Aethlon Medical, Inc. announced its scientists have completed initial non-clinical human blood studies which indicate that the Hemopurifier(TM) treatment technology is effective in capturing smallpox-related viruses from human blood. The studies documented that the Hemopurifier was able to capture 85 percent of vaccinia from human blood in one hour and in excess of 95 percent during an overnight treatment study. vaccinia is a "pox"-type virus closely related to smallpox. Related studies also indicated that the Hemopurifier was effective in removing other smallpox related viruses, including cowpox and mousepox.

"Taken together, these studies strongly indicate that the Hemopurifier will be effective in removing circulating smallpox virus from the blood of infected patients, even when the virus has been engineered to be resistant to drugs and vaccines," stated Richard H. Tullis, PhD, Aethlon's chief scientific officer.

Aethlon's clinical goal is to develop the Hemopurifier as a countermeasure against smallpox and other viruses and toxins that are referenced in the U.S. government's stated plan to acquire emergency stockpiles of treatments against candidate biological weapons. Project BioShield, which was signed into law on July 21, 2004, authorizes $5.6 billion over 10 years to purchase and deploy new countermeasures against smallpox, anthrax, ebola, plague and other potential bioterror agents. Under Project BioShield, clinical efficacy for these bioweapons is established in animal models rather than in large-scale human trials. Aethlon believes that the Hemopurifier can serve as the first line of defense in treating drug and vaccine resistant biological weapons.

Source: Aethlon Medical, Inc.