For Release February 12, 2004

AuRx announced today that it has completed a series of tests in nude mice showing that its recombinant therapy does not cause disease in immune compromised animals. Nude mice injected with the therapy lived 10 times longer than normal mice injected with HSV-2. No infections were seen at the injection site and no symptoms were seen. Mice receiving a dose of HSV-2 at the level given normally die in three days. At the end of the 30 test period, the nude mice given 5 X 106 pfu of the AuRx therapeutic vaccine showed no ill effects.

The AuRx therapy is a live recombinant virus which has had one gene deleted. The latest series of tests combined with earlier published evidence is believed to show that the recombinant virus does not grow in animals. This leads to hope that the recombinant therapy could be tested and ultimately approved for use in immunosuppressed humans.

This study also increases the confidence in the safety of the recombinant therapy. Clinical trials in Mexico have shown no side effects greater than placebo and the side effects experienced were mild. The recombinant virus used in the therapy does not grow as well as HSV-2 in animal cells and could not be recovered from mice or guinea pigs injected with the therapy. In neuronal tissues in guinea pigs the amount of virus was 100 fold lower where present and occurred five times less frequently in surgically removed neurons.

One immediate target for the AuRx therapy could be persons infected with HIV. HIV infection results in suppression of the immune system. It is thought that HSV-2 infection stimulates the progression of HIV to AIDS. Prevention of this progression would be a major step in halting many of the life threatening consequences of AIDS.

AuRx, Inc. is a private biotechnology company located near Baltimore, MD.