Hemispherx Biopharma Presents Influenza Prevention / Treatment Platform at International...

Hemispherx Biopharma Presents Influenza Prevention / Treatment Platform at
International Conference in Rome under Auspices of Italian Government

PHILADELPHIA, June 1, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hemispherx Biopharma (NYSE
Amex:HEB) announced today an invitation, funded entirely by the government of
Italy, to present its technology platform for influenza control, at the upcoming
"International Conference on Biotechnologies and Finance" in Rome on July 4-5,
2009, at the Sheraton Parco de Medici. According to the Conference Organizers,
leaders of "private and public research centers, intellectual property holders
and financial experts from Europe, Australia, Canada, Estonia, Singapore and the
USA" will participate. Hemispherx will present in a Round Table Discussion on
Pandemic Influenza, moderated by Dr. Elemer Piros, Senior Pharmaceutical Analyst
at Rodman and Renshaw, a USA investment bank.

Hemispherx has a broad-based technology platform for confronting the potential
of an influenza pandemic, which consists of both preventative (vaccine)
components as well as experimental therapeutic interventions. Clinical results
from trials conducted in Australia are being evaluated and major vaccine
initiatives in Japan are being accelerated in collaboration with the Japanese
National Institutes of Health and the Japanese Ministry of Health.

About Hemispherx Biopharma

Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. is a specialty pharma company engaged in the
manufacture and clinical development of new drug entities for treatment of
seriously debilitating disorders. Hemispherx's flagship products include Alferon
N Injection(r) (FDA approved for a category of sexually transmitted diseases)
and the experimental therapeutics, Ampligen(r) and Oragens. Ampligen(r) and
Oragens represent experimental RNA nucleic acids being developed for globally
important debilitating diseases and disorders of the immune system. Hemispherx's
platform technology includes large and small agent components for potential
treatment of various severely debilitating and life threatening diseases.
Hemispherx has in excess of 50 issued patents comprising its core intellectual
property estate and a fully commercialized product (Alferon N Injection(r)). The
Company wholly owns and exclusively operates a GMP certified manufacturing
facility in the United States for commercial products. For more information
please visit www.hemispherx.net.

Information contained in this news release other than historical information,
should be considered forward-looking and is subject to various risk factors and
uncertainties. For instance, the strategies and operations of Hemispherx involve
risk of competition, changing market conditions, change in laws and regulations
affecting these industries and numerous other factors discussed in this release
and in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any
specifically referenced investigational drugs and associated technologies of the
Company (including Ampligen(r), Alferon LDO and Oragens) are experimental in
nature and as such are not designated safe and effective by a regulatory
authority for general use and are legally available only through clinical trials
with the referenced disorders. The forward-looking statements represent the
Company's judgment as of the date of this release. The Company disclaims,
however, any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
Clinical trials for other potential indications of the approved biologic Alferon
N Injection(r) do not imply that the product will ever be specifically approved
commercially for these other treatment indications; similarly, the completion of
the NDA filing process with Ampligen(r) does not imply that the product will
ever be approved commercially.

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CONTACT: Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc.
Company/Investor Contact:
Dianne Will
518-398-6222
ir@hemispherx.net