Aethlon Medical Reports Hepatitis-C Blood Studies.

Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers

LA JOLLA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 31, 2003

Aethlon Medical Inc. (OTCBB:AEMD) today announced that initial pre-clinical human blood studies of the company's new HCV-Hemopurifier(TM) have documented a consistent ability to remove 58 percent of Hepatitis-C virus (HCV) from infected blood in two hours.

The data was presented at the "International Conference on Dialysis V" which ends today in Miami, Florida. The data compares favorably with Aethlon's lead product AEMD-45, which is a HIV treatment Hemopurifier(TM) that is able to remove 55 percent of HIV from human blood in three hours and in excess of 85 percent in 12 hours.

"This data helps substantiate the clinical expectation that our Hemopurifier(TM) treatment platform can be effective for numerous disease states," said James A. Joyce, Chairman and CEO. "Our data becomes especially important when considering the magnitude of HIV and HCV infections and the reality that both viruses can mutate to defeat current drug therapies."

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), over 200 million people worldwide are infected with the Hepatitis-C (HCV) virus. In the United States, HCV has become the most common chronic, blood-borne disease with nearly 4 million infected. Chronic and progressive Hepatitis C, which represents 80-90 percent of all cases, has significant morbidity and mortality rates, and is the leading cause of liver disease and transplantation.

Richard Tullis, Ph.D., chief scientific officer at Aethlon stated, "This is a significant advance in Aethlon's virus treatment platform. The possibility now exists that we will be able to deliver a medical device that can simultaneously treat both HIV and HCV infections, a factor that could be crucial for the large population of patients that are infected with both diseases."

About Aethlon Medical

Aethlon Medical develops therapeutic devices that treat HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis-C (HCV) and other infectious diseases. In pre-clinical testing, Aethlon has published that AEMD-45, its lead product for treating HIV, is able to remove 55 percent of HIV from infected human blood in three hours and in excess of 85 percent in 12 hours. Aethlon has also documented that AEMD-45 removes up to 90 percent of toxic viral proteins that deplete immune cells during the equivalent of a one-hour treatment. The AEMD-45 therapeutic device, like all product offerings from Aethlon Medical, is developed from an expansive platform technology known as the Hemopurifier(TM), which employs a proprietary method to increase the capability of FDA cleared artificial kidneys (dialysis cartridges) to remove targeted intoxicants from the blood. In the case of AEMD-45, dialysis cartridges are modified to mimic the immune system's response to clear infectious virus from circulation before healthy cells are infected. AEMD-45 is designed to fill the urgent need for new treatments that are effective in reducing viral load, decrease the likelihood of treatment resistance and treat without the toxic side-effects associated with AIDS drugs. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.AethlonMedical.com.

Certain of the statements herein may be forward-looking and involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements involve assumptions, known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Aethlon Medical Inc. to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such potential risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the company's ability to raise capital when needed, the company's ability to complete the development of its planned products, the ability of the company to obtain FDA and other regulatory approvals permitting the sale of its products, the company's ability to manufacture its products and provide its services, the impact of government regulations, patent protection on the company's proprietary technology, product liability exposure, uncertainty of market acceptance, competition, technological change, and other risk factors. In such instances, actual results could differ materially as a result of a variety of factors, including the risks associated with the effect of changing economic conditions and other risk factors detailed in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.