DOR BioPharma Announces Private Equity Financing of $2.28 Million With Single Institutional Investor

EWING, NJ, Jan 12 (MARKET WIRE) --
DOR BioPharma, Inc. (DOR or the Company) (OTCBB: DORB) announced today
that it has signed a $2.28 million common stock purchase agreement with a
single institutional investor.

Under the terms of the agreement, DOR will sell 20,000,000 common shares
together with a five year warrant to purchase up to 20,000,0000 shares of
DOR common stock at $0.14 per share, for an aggregate price of $2,280,000
($0.114 per share representing a premium to the trailing average of DOR's
common stock closing prices over the last five days). The expiration date
of the warrants will be accelerated if the Company's common stock meets
certain price thresholds and DOR would receive additional gross proceeds
of approximately $2.8 million if exercised.

"The New Year is off to an exciting start for DOR and its shareholders,"
stated Christopher J. Schaber, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive
Officer of DOR. "With a strengthened balance sheet, we will be able to
focus on beginning our confirmatory Phase 3 trial of orBec(R) while
continuing to explore all partnering options with Sigma Tau. We look
forward to building on our recent achievements and expect 2009 to be an
eventful year."

The Company's common stock will be sold to an accredited investor in a
private placement in reliance on an exemption from the registration
requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities
Act"). The shares will not be registered under the Securities Act or any
state securities laws, and the shares may not be offered or sold absent
registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements
of the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. In connection
with the offering, DOR has agreed to file a registration statement under
the Securities Act covering the resale of the shares purchased within 20
days of the closing of the transaction. This press release does not and
will not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to
buy shares and is being issued under Rule 135c under the Securities Act.

About DOR BioPharma, Inc.

DOR BioPharma, Inc. (DOR) is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company
developing products to treat life-threatening side effects of cancer
treatments and serious gastrointestinal diseases, and vaccines for certain
bioterrorism agents. DOR's lead product, orBec(R) (oral beclomethasone
dipropionate or BDP), is a potent, locally acting corticosteroid being
developed for the treatment of gastrointestinal Graft-versus-Host disease
(GI GVHD), a common and potentially life-threatening complication of
hematopoietic cell transplantation. DOR expects to begin a confirmatory
Phase 3 clinical trial of orBec(R) for the treatment of GI GVHD in 1H
2009. orBec(R) is also currently the subject of an NIH-supported, Phase 2,
randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in the prevention of
acute GVHD. Oral BDP may also have application in treating other
gastrointestinal disorders characterized by severe inflammation.
Additionally, DOR has a Lipid Polymer Micelle (LPM(TM)) drug delivery
technology for the oral delivery of leuprolide for the treatment of
prostate cancer and endometriosis.

Through its Biodefense Division, DOR is developing biomedical
countermeasures pursuant to the Project BioShield Act of 2004. DOR's
biodefense products in development are recombinant subunit vaccines
designed to protect against the lethal effects of exposure to ricin toxin,
botulinum toxin and anthrax. DOR's ricin toxin vaccine, RiVax(TM), has
been shown to be well tolerated and immunogenic in a Phase 1 clinical
trial in normal volunteers.

For further information regarding DOR BioPharma, Inc., please visit the
Company's website at www.dorbiopharma.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect DOR
BioPharma, Inc.'s current expectations about its future results,
performance, prospects and opportunities. Statements that are not
historical facts, such as "anticipates," "believes," "intends," or similar
expressions, are forward-looking statements. These statements are subject
to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause
actual events or results in future periods to differ materially from what
is expressed in, or implied by, these statements. DOR cannot assure you
that it will be able to successfully develop or commercialize products
based on its technology, including orBec(R), particularly in light of the
significant uncertainty inherent in developing vaccines against bioterror
threats, manufacturing and conducting preclinical and clinical trials of
vaccines, and obtaining regulatory approvals, that its cash expenditures
will not exceed projected levels, that it will be able to secure
partnerships or obtain financing within the next nine months to meet
operating expenses and to conduct its upcoming confirmatory Phase 3 trial
of orBec(R), that product development and commercialization efforts will
not be reduced or discontinued due to difficulties or delays in clinical
trials or due to lack of progress or positive results from research and
development efforts, that it will be able to successfully obtain any
further grants and awards, maintain its existing grants which are subject
to performance, enter into any biodefense procurement contracts with the
US Government or other countries, that the US Congress may not pass any
legislation that would provide additional funding for the Project
BioShield program, that it will be able to patent, register or protect
its technology from challenge and products from competition or maintain
or expand its license agreements with its current licensors, or that its
business strategy will be successful. Important factors which may affect
the future use of orBec(R) for gastrointestinal GVHD include the risks
that: the FDA's requirement that DOR conduct additional clinical trials
to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of orBec(R) will take a
significant amount of time and money to complete and positive results
leading to regulatory approval cannot be assumed; DOR is dependent on the
expertise, effort, priorities and contractual obligations of third
parties in the clinical trials, manufacturing, marketing, sales and
distribution of its products; orBec(R) may not gain market acceptance if
it is eventually approved by the FDA; and others may develop technologies
or products superior to orBec(R). These and other factors are described
from time to time in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including, but not limited to, DOR's most recent reports on Forms 10-Q
and 10-KSB. Unless required by law, DOR assumes no obligation to update
or revise any forward-looking statements as a result of new information
or future events.

Company Contact:

Evan Myrianthopoulos
Chief Financial Officer
(609) 538-8200
www.dorbiopharma.com

DOR BioPharma, Inc.
850 Bear Tavern Road, Suite 201
Ewing, NJ 08628

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