BDO Internal Deficiencies Did Not Involve Hemispherx Personnel and
Financial Statements Improved upon Reissuance.
PHILADELPHIA--(Business Wire)--Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. (AMEX:HEB) today commented on recent
news of the internal operating irregularities within BDO Seidman
("BDO") and the resultant restatement of the Hemispherx financial
results for fiscal years including fiscal 2004.
According to a December 18, 2007, report titled, "Ex-BDO Seidman
official penalized for lack of oversight," the former head of BDO
Seidman's assurance practice in Philadelphia has been barred by the
federal Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) from working
with a public accounting firm for failing to review the audit work of
a junior member of his firm and then trying to cover it up by
backdating documents.
The PCAOB's actions are related to an audit of Hemispherx
Biopharma's financial statements by BDO for fiscal years including
2004. According to PCAOB, BDO improperly authorized the release of
BDO's audit report on Hemispherx's financial statements on March 16,
2005 because BDO lacked at the time the proper internal controls to
opine on the audit's veracity.
In the ensuing reissuance process, the Company's restated
financials actually improved; namely, fiscal 2004 showed a decrease in
the net loss applicable to common stockholders of $3.2 million, or
$0.07 per share, as compared to results reported in the earlier audit
which lacked the proper internal controls within BDO.
BDO's final reports on financial statements of Hemispherx for the
fiscal years ended December 31, 2004 and December 31, 2005 did not
contain any adverse opinion or any disclaimer of opinion and were not
qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope or accounting
principles.
Thereafter, Hemispherx engaged McGladrey and Pullen, LLP as its
independent registered accounting firm following the filing of its
quarterly report on Form 10Q for the period ended Sept. 30, 2006.
About Hemispherx Biopharma
Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. is an advanced biopharmaceutical
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(R). Ampligen(R) and
Oragens(R) 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 100 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 http://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.
Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc.
Dianne Will, 518-398-6222
ir@hemispherx.net
or
Investors:
CCG Investor Relations
Sean Collins, 310-477-9800
Senior Partner
Copyright Business Wire 2007
