AVI BioPharma, Inc. Broadens Management Team, Expands Board of Directors.Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers PORTLAND, Ore.--(BW HealthWire)--May 18, 2000 Company names Alan P. Timmins President and Chief Operating Officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. , Mark M. Webber Chief Financial Officer, and appoints John W. Fara, Ph.D. to its Board of Directors AVI BioPharma, Inc. (Nasdaq:AVII) (Nasdaq:AVIIW) (Nasdaq:AVIIZ) today announced that it had promoted Alan P. Timmins to the position of President and Chief Operating Officer, and Mark M. Webber to the position of Chief Financial Officer. Additionally, the Company appointed pharmaceutical industry veteran John W. Fara, Ph.D. to its Board of Directors. "These promotions reflect AVI's continuing development and maturation as a company, and are in response to our increasing opportunities for business development based upon the success of our AVICINE(TM) therapeutic cancer vaccine, coupled with the ever-broadening list of potential applications for our NEUGENE(R) antisense antisense, DNA or RNA manipulated in a laboratory so that its components (nucleotides) form a complementary copy of normal, or "sense," messenger RNA (mRNA; see nucleic acid). ," stated Denis Denis, king of Portugal: see Diniz. R. Burger, Ph.D., AVI's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Burger added, "These changes will help during this particularly exciting and busy time as we expand our NEUGENE clinical development program. Plans for clinical trials alone in the coming year are substantial. We plan to commence our trials of Resten-NG(TM) in cardiac restenosis, start a Phase I/II trial of Oncomyc-NG(TM) in a cancer application, and initiate trials of NEUBIOTICS(TM) in the treatment of infectious diseases. In addition, the upcoming Phase III AVICINE colorectal cancer colorectal cancer Malignant tumour of the large intestine (colon) or rectum. Risk factors include age (after age 50), family history of colorectal cancer, chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, benign polyps, physical inactivity, and a diet high in fat. trial will be a significant undertaking." Mr. Timmins joined the Company in 1992 as Chief Financial Officer, was later appointed to the dual role of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer and was elected to the Board of Directors in 1997. Mr. Webber has served as the Company's Corporate Controller since 1997, and prior to that was the Director of Finance for Pacific Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine sports medicine, branch of medicine concerned with physical fitness and with the treatment and prevention of injuries and other disorders related to sports. Knee, leg, back, and shoulder injuries; stiffness and pain in joints; tendinitis; "tennis elbow"; and . Dr. Fara is currently the President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of DepoMed Inc., a Menlo Park, Calif., company focused on drug delivery. He previously led a biotechnology company, Anergen Inc., and an early-stage pharmaceutical company, Prototek Inc. Before that he worked for 10 years in a variety of executive positions for ALZA Corp. "With his pharmaceutical background and wealth of industry contacts, Dr. Fara comes to us as an invaluable resource, particularly as we move toward the final stages of clinical development of AVICINE and NEUGENE compounds," Dr. Burger stated. AVI BioPharma develops therapeutic products for the treatment of life-threatening diseases using two technology platforms: cancer immunotherapy and gene-targeted drugs. Its lead clinical agent, AVICINE, is in a Phase II trial in pancreatic cancer pancreatic cancer Malignant tumour of the pancreas. Risk factors include smoking, a diet high in fat, exposure to certain industrial products, and diseases such as diabetes and chronic pancreatitis. Pancreatic cancer is more common in men. and will soon enter a Phase III pivotal trial in colorectal cancer and a Phase II trial in prostate cancer. AVI (Audio Video Interleaved) A Windows multimedia video format from Microsoft. It interleaves standard waveform audio and digital video frames (bitmaps) to provide reduced animation at 15 fps at 160x120x8 resolution. Audio is 11,025Hz, 8-bit samples. has begun clinical trials of Resten-NG in cardiovascular restenosis, the first application of its novel third-generation NEUGENE antisense technology. Resten-NG is designed to treat cancer, cardiovascular restenosis and other cell proliferation disorders by inhibiting the production of a cellular transcription factor, the oncogene oncogene Gene that can cause cancer. It is a sequence of DNA that has been altered or mutated from its original form, the proto-oncogene (see mutation). Proto-oncogenes promote the specialization and division of normal cells. c-myc. More information about AVI is available on the Company's website at http://www.avibio.com. "Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995. The statements that are not historical facts contained in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the results of research and development efforts, the results of pre-clinical and clinical testing, the effect of regulation by the FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. and other agencies, the impact of competitive products, product development, commercialization and technological difficulties, and other risks detailed in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. |
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