Advanced Viral Research Corp. Publishes New Forum on Potential of Product R to Mitigate Toxicity of Other Therapeutic Drugs.

Business/Health Editors

YONKERS, N.Y.--(BW HealthWire)--Nov. 3, 2000

Biopharmaceutical Firm Pioneering New Therapeutic Area

Advanced Viral Research Corp. (OTCBB: ADVR), today announced the publication of the third in a series of scientific forums found at http://www.adviral.com. In the most recent edition, Dr. Shalom Z. Hirschman, president and CEO of Advanced Viral Research Corp., discusses a new, emerging field of pharmacology: the use of immunomodulators to mitigate the toxicity of other therapeutic drugs.

In the forum, Dr. Hirschman explains that the use of immunomodulator-type drugs like the company's flagship drug, Product R, to lessen the toxicity of other traditional drug therapies, is inaugurating a promising new therapeutic area.

"The clinical observation that Product R may mitigate the toxicity of other anti-AIDS drugs suggests that immunomodulator-type drugs can be used to decrease the toxicity of drugs employed in the therapy of a variety of diseases," notes Dr. Hirschman. "If Product R mitigates the toxicity of anti-tumor chemotherapeutic agents, as it appears to mitigate the toxic effects of antiviral drugs used to treat HIV infection, then the possibility of treating cancer patients with more effective doses of chemotherapeutic agents for longer periods of time holds the promise of increasing the effectiveness of cancer chemotherapy while improving the lives of those cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy."

He concludes, "This new therapeutic area would represent an unusually large market for immunomodulator drugs such as Product R and may, in time, turn out to be one of the largest markets in the pharmaceutical industry."

During the past three years, it has been noted that in patients with AIDS, treated with three or more anti-AIDS drugs, toxic reactions to the nucleoside analogs and protease inhibitors appeared to be significantly mitigated by the addition of Product R as the immunomodulator. Indeed, patients already suffering toxic reactions, including nausea, diarrhea, weight loss, and muscle wasting, experienced a marked amelioration of these toxic effects when Product R was added to the therapeutic anti-AIDS regimen. This apparent beneficial effect of Product R may allow patients to be treated with effective doses of the traditional AIDS drugs for prolonged periods of time. Moreover, the absence of the toxicity of the anti-AIDS therapeutic regimen has allowed the patients to live normal, productive lives.

The full text of Dr. Hirschman's Forum can be found on-line at http://www.adviral.com.

Advanced Viral Research Corp.'s flagship drug, Product R, is a peptide nucleic acid-type immunomodulator that can either stimulate the pro-inflammatory responses required to treat viral infections such as AIDS, or dampen aberrant autoimmune-type inflammatory responses, such as occur in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Therefore, Product R has been termed a "switch-type" immunomodulator.

The potential of Product R to mitigate the toxicity of other drugs appears to be an added benefit to the drug's apparent basic therapeutic properties in AIDS patients that may include the enhancement of CD4 and CD8 cell counts and reduced HIV viral loads. Laboratory studies have also shown that Product R inhibits the production of both the CCR5 and CXCR4 chemokine receptors, the key cellular co-receptors for HIV.

About Advanced Viral Research Corp.

Advanced Viral Research Corp., based in Yonkers, New York, is a biopharmaceutical firm committed to researching, developing and bringing to market new, effective therapies for viral and other diseases, which will lead to the alleviation of human suffering and diseases worldwide. Its flagship drug, Product R, is a non-toxic peptide nucleic acid immunomodulator that has been shown to have beneficial therapeutic effects against viral diseases such as AIDS and autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.

Note: This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks associated with clinical development, regulatory approvals (including application to the FDA), product commercialization, risks associated with the conditions precedent to the equity line of credit not being satisfied, and other risks described from time to time in the SEC reports filed by ADVR. Product R is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or any comparable agencies of any other countries.