PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 13, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. (NYSE Amex:HEB) (the “Company”) announced today that the discovery of a novel retrovirus in CFS may now shed new light on the potential mechanism of action of Ampligen(R) (Poly I: Poly C12U), an experimental therapeutic, in CFS. CFS is a debilitating disease of unknown etiology that is estimated to affect 17 million people worldwide. In the October 8, 2009 issue of Science Express, a consortium of researchers from the Whittemore Peterson Institute, the National Cancer Institute and the Cleveland Clinic report a new retrovirus in the blood cells of 67% of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) patients and 3.7% in healthy control subjects. The infectious virus was also greater than 99% identical to that previously detected in prostate cancer. Patients with CFS are known to display various abnormalities in immune system functions and experience both higher cancer rates and neurological pathology, all of which may be associated with several retroviruses such as HIV and HTLV-1.
