AVI BioPharma, Inc. to Co-Host Exon Skipping Conference for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

CORVALLIS, OR--(Marketwire - October 14, 2008) - AVI BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVII), a developer of RNA-based drugs, today announced that the Company -- along with The Foundation to Eradicate Duchenne, the CureDuchenne Foundation, and Prosensa -- will co-host an exon skipping conference for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) from October 14-17, 2008 at the Banbury Center of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY. Invited participants will be drawn from all over the world and from all areas of research, clinical development, regulatory affairs and key DMD disease foundations to review the advances in oligonucleotides as therapeutic agents for DMD.