AVI BioPharma Starts Preclinical Development of Two Human Monoclonal Antibodies for Cancer.

Business Editors, Health/Medical Writers

PORTLAND, Ore.--(BW HealthWire)--Jan. 27, 2000

Monoclonal Antibodies Developed with the Abgenix XenoMouse(TM)

Model Target AVI's Cancer Vaccine, Avicine(TM)

AVI BioPharma, Inc. (Nasdaq:AVII)(Nasdaq:AVIIW)(Nasdaq:AVIIZ), a biotechnology company committed to the development of products to treat cancer and other life-threatening diseases announced today initiation of preclinical development of two human monoclonal antibodies for cancer.

These two monoclonal antibodies were produced using AVI's Avicine(TM) cancer vaccine, now in late stage clinical development and Abgenix Inc.'s (Nasdaq:ABGX) XenoMouse(TM) Technology.

&uot;Using the Abgenix technology, which AVI licensed in January 1999, we have successfully produced human monoclonal antibodies to the two targets of our cancer vaccine, Avicine,&uot; commented Denis R. Burger, Ph.D, AVI's President and CEO. &uot;These two antibodies thus have broad potential as stand alone drugs, as supplement to our vaccine, and as delivery agents for other cancer therapeutics.&uot;

Patrick Iversen, Ph.D., AVI's Senior Vice President of Research and Development, added, &uot;These antibodies significantly broaden our cancer treatment capabilities as they possibly could be used therapeutically during the initial weeks of treatment before patients respond on their own to our vaccine. Further, they may be an effective treatment for patients whose immune systems are compromised and whose only current therapeutic choice is aggressive, toxic chemotherapy.&uot;

Avicine is an essentially nontoxic therapeutic cancer vaccine which elicits a highly specific immune response to the human hormone and growth factor chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), a cancer-associated oncofetal protein. The vaccine blocks hCG's facilitation of tumor growth, angiogenesis, invasion, and immunosuppression. In the clinical trials to date, patients that responded to the two epitopes in the vaccine exhibited significant survival benefits compared to patients treated with chemotherapy alone.

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, a therapeutic cancer vaccine, is in Phase II trial in pancreatic cancer, and will soon enter a Phase III pivotal trial in colorectal cancer and a Phase II trial in Prostate cancer. AVI has begun clinical trials on 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 c-myc. More information about AVI is available at http://www.avibio.com.

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 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.