Hollis-Eden Announces Plans to Respond to Department of Health and Human Services' Request for Information -- RFI.

SAN DIEGO -- DHHS Requests Information on Therapeutics to Treat Neutropenia and Thrombocytopenia Associated with Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS)

Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEPH) today announced plans to respond before the December 20, 2004 deadline to a Request for Information (RFI), issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), for therapeutics to treat neutropenia and thrombocytopenia associated with Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS). An RFI begins a process by which the government can contract with industry for large-scale manufacturing and delivery of licensable products to the Strategic National Stockpile in preparation for response to a public health emergency.

ARS, also referred to as radiation sickness, is an acute illness caused by high doses of radiation exposure over a significant portion of the body in a relatively short time period. This exposure results in the depletion of hematopoetic stem cells and progenitors, resulting in severe neutropenia and thrombocytopenia. Severe neutropenia can significantly increase an individual's susceptibility to lethal infections, while thrombocytopenia increases the risk of hemorrhage. Currently there are no approved therapeutics to mitigate ARS.

Hollis-Eden is developing NEUMUNE(TM) (HE2100), an investigational immune regulating hormone for acute radiation injury, pursuant to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Animal Efficacy Rule for countermeasures to weapons of mass destruction. On October 4, the Company presented data at a major medical meeting showing NEUMUNE's ability to provide a statistically significant improvement in both thrombocytopenia and febrile neutropenia in non-human primates following high doses of radiation exposure. The ability to provide protection against both bleeding episodes and systemic infections with a single agent has the potential to make NEUMUNE useful in an outpatient setting, without the need for hospitalization, which may be particularly important in a mass casualty scenario.

"Because there are no approved therapeutics to treat ARS, we believe NEUMUNE represents an important potential advancement in the fight against nuclear terrorism and is responsive to the intent of this RFI," commented Richard Hollis, Chairman and CEO of Hollis-Eden. "We look forward to communicating with the U.S. government with respect to this critical threat to our national security."

To view the RFI, you can access it from the following URL: http://www1.eps.gov/spg/HHS/OOS/OASPHEP/Reference%2DNumber%2DRFI%2DORD C%2D05%2D01/SynopsisR.html.

Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a development-stage pharmaceutical company based in San Diego, California, working to become the world leader in the development of a new class of investigational drugs known as Immune Regulating Hormones (IRHs). The goal of IRH therapy is to direct, through controlling gene expression, the production of key cytokines and enzymes that re-regulate immune and metabolic functions toward homeostasis, a profile that could be useful in a wide variety of diseases. The Company has a number of investigational compounds under development, including NEUMUNE, which the Company is developing for use in protection from radiation injury; PHOSPHONOL(TM), a non-IRH candidate for providing protection against DNA mutations from radiation exposure and chemotherapy treatment; and IMMUNITIN(TM), which has shown activity in a variety of infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Hollis-Eden is also developing IRHs for protection from chemotherapy and other conditions of immune dysregulation. For more information on Hollis-Eden, contact the Company's website at www.holliseden.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning the potential and prospects of the Company's drug discovery program and its drug candidates. Any statement describing a goal, expectation, intention or belief of the Company is a forward-looking statement and should be considered an at-risk statement. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including the ability to successfully complete preclinical and clinical trials within specified timelines, if at all; the ability to obtain regulatory approval for NEUMUNE, even if shown to be effective in preclinical studies; the ability to receive any stockpiling orders for NEUMUNE from the U.S. and foreign governments, even if approved by regulatory authorities; the Company's future capital needs; the Company's ability to obtain additional funding; the ability of the Company to protect its intellectual property rights and to not infringe the intellectual property rights of others; the development of competitive products by other companies; and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The actual results may differ materially from those contained in this press release.