< Return To Overview Amarillo Biosciences Joins Asia's War On SARS Amarillo, Texas, June 2, 2003 - Amarillo Biosciences, Inc. (OTCBB Symbol: AMAR), a leading U.S. pharmaceutical research and development firm, is taking new steps to help combat the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Asia. The Company has named Dr. Stephen Chen, President of STC International in East Brunswick, NJ, as its exclusive agent in China and Taiwan to introduce and distribute low-dose oral interferon alpha lozenges for use in the treatment and prevention of SARS. World health officials currently believe SARS may have evolved in China from an animal coronavirus that was then transferred into the human population. Fortunately, past research studies by Amarillo Biosciences have determined that low-dose, orally delivered human interferon alpha can significantly reduce mortality in piglets undergoing a natural outbreak of an animal coronavirus, named TGE (transmissible gastroenteritis) virus. This has raised hopes that a similar treatment regimen may prove equally effective in combating SARS in humans. Massive injections or IV applications of interferon (known as parenteral treatment) have been successfully used to fight other human viruses, but this approach is expensive and much too toxic for use against a widespread disease such as SARS. By contrast, orally delivered human interferon alpha can be easily and inexpensively used to modulate the immune system in a non-toxic way, as demonstrated by Amarillo Biosciences' published (Vet Immunology Immunopathology 45: 355-360, 1995) study involving TGE-infected swine. In that study, a total of 1,740 piglets were given either a placebo or a natural human interferon alpha dose at 1, 10 or 20 IU per animal. Positive results were achieved at all dosage levels, but the greatest survival benefit involved use of 20 IU doses administered once daily for four days - i.e., the survival rate in infected piglets 1-12 days of age rose from 15% in placebo-treated controls to 50% in interferon-treated animals. This result mirrors other findings by Amarillo Biosciences, which has done extensive R&D into orally delivered cytokines over the past 19 years, studying the use of oral interferon in dogs, cats, horses, cattle, swine, poultry, mice, rats, monkeys, guinea pigs and humans. The earliest applications of oral interferon were in cattle with viral respiratory infections, cats with respiratory infections or with leukemia and dogs with canine parvovirus. Since going public in 1996, the Company has focused on human clinical trials conducted in patients with fibromyalgia, aphthous stomatitis, Sjögren's syndrome, the common cold, hepatitis B, chronic fatigue syndrome and AIDS. These double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trials, which involved 1,504 human patients, have shown the Company's interferon lozenges to have an outstanding safety record, with the most common side effect being headaches. However, headache occurred in only 6.3% of interferon-treated patients as compared to 6.0% of placebo-treated patients. Amarillo Biosciences' interferon lozenges are produced by the Company's partner, Hayashibara Group, which was founded in 1883 and is now Japan's second-largest pharmaceutical and bio-tech company, consisting of 15 corporations and two non-profit foundations. One of those corporations, Hayashibara Biochemical Laboratories, Inc (HBL), of Okayama, has been performing R&D involving the manufacture and use of interferons since 1970, and has gained Japanese regulatory approval to market HBL's natural human interferon alpha for the parenteral treatment of renal cell carcinoma, chronic active hepatitis B and C, chronic myelogenous leukemia and chronic non-active hepatitis C. Since 1989, Amarillo Biosciences and HBL have been working together to develop low-dose orally delivered interferon alpha. As a result of its research, Amarillo Biosciences has earned 18 patents (with two more pending), issued with claims for the use of oral interferon in treatment of many diseases, including viral infections. One of the more recent patents relates to the formulation of the interferon lozenges, which are foil-wrapped and remain stable at room temperature for at least 24 months. The lozenges are thus inexpensive, stable for long periods, easy to administer, and have demonstrated efficacy, making them an ideal product for the treatment of SARS. About Amarillo Biosciences, Inc. Amarillo Biosciences, Inc., is a cutting-edge U.S. biotechnical firm operating in global partnership with the Hayashibara Group, Japan's second-largest pharmaceutical company, which also holds 36.5% of Amarillo Biosciences shares. The Company's primary focus is extensive and ongoing R&D into the use of low-dose, orally administered interferon alpha as a treatment for a variety of conditions, including Sjögren's syndrome, fibromyalgia syndrome, Behçet's disease, hepatitis B and C, and opportunistic infections in patients who are HIV positive. Additional information is available on the Amarillo Biosciences, Inc. web site at www.amarbio.com. Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including uncertainties related to product development, uncertainties related to the need for regulatory and other government approvals, dependence on proprietary technology, uncertainty of market acceptance of oral interferon alpha or the Company's other product candidates and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, see "Item 1. Description of Business" of the Company's Form 10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 2002. < Return To Overview