Amarillo Biosciences Announces Completion of Screening Process for Influenza Study in Australia

AMARILLO, TX--(Marketwire - June 19, 2009) -

Amarillo Biosciences, Inc. (ABI) (OTCBB: AMAR) today announced that the screening of volunteers for inclusion in a Phase 2 clinical study of the company’s oral interferon product at the University of Western Australia is now complete. The investigators met their target of screening at least 200 healthy adults for participation in the trial. A total of 215 volunteers were evaluated and 134 of them have been enrolled into the study to date. About 90% of the screened subjects have been found to qualify for the study, so additional enrollments are expected over the next 2 weeks to bring the total number of study participants up to or above the targeted 160 subjects.

The double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 clinical trial is being conducted by Dr. Manfred Beilharz and colleagues. The study is expected to show that lozenges containing a low dose of interferon-alpha can prevent infection or reduce the severity of infection with influenza and other common respiratory viruses when taken once a day during a typical winter cold/flu season.

Dr. Joseph Cummins, President and CEO of ABI, said, “We are pleased that Dr. Beilharz and his study team were able to achieve their goal of screening over 200 volunteers because this study is an important step in proving that our low-dose interferon lozenges can be a safe and effective alternative to antiviral drugs for influenza. New therapies like oral interferon are needed in the face of the ongoing swine flu pandemic, especially since the influenza virus has developed resistance in the past to currently marketed antiviral drugs.”

Dr. Manfred Beilharz said, “The community spread of swine flu in Perth has gone from 0 to 80+ in 14 days, and that is only the confirmed cases. Over the next 3 months we here in Perth, Western Australia may well experience a reproduction of the community spread that is occurring in Melbourne, Victoria. If our lozenges work as well as we anticipate against swine flu, we will make a tremendous contribution to economical public health procedures.”

About Amarillo Biosciences

Amarillo Biosciences, Inc. is a U.S. biotechnology firm operating in global partnership with the Hayashibara Group, which also holds 7% of Amarillo Biosciences shares and has provided over $18 million in loans, grants and equity investments. The Company’s primary focus is extensive and ongoing R&D into the use of low-dose, orally administered interferon as a treatment for a variety of conditions, including influenza, hepatitis C, chronic cough, and opportunistic infections in patients who are HIV positive. In its 25-year history, the Company has invested nearly $40 million to establish oral interferon as a therapeutic agent. The majority of those funds were invested in clinical trials in an effort to achieve FDA approval for interferon. Additional information is available on the web site at http://www.amarbio.com/.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including uncertainties related to product development, uncertainties related to the need for regulatory and other government approvals, dependence on proprietary technology, uncertainty of market acceptance of oral interferon or the Company’s other product candidates and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, see “Item 1. Description of Business” and “Item 7A. Qualitative and Quantitative Disclosures About Market Risk” of the Company’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008.