PR Newswire; Wednesday December 10, 8:31 am EST

Dr. Prem Sarin, CEL-SCI's vice president of research, infectious diseases, reported the results of the studies, saying, "These exciting results bring us another crucial step closer to the development of a worldwide AIDS vaccine."

Dr. Sarin explained that test groups of SCID* mice were injected with white blood cells from human volunteers, some of whom had been vaccinated and boosted with HGP-30. The mice were then injected with a large amount of live AIDS virus.

Seventy-eight percent of the SCID mice given the blood from vaccinated individuals were protected from HIV infection. Of the mice receiving the non- vaccinated control blood, only 13 percent showed no evidence of infection, according to Dr. James Talmadge at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, who performed the mouse study.

There is substantial variability and continued mutation among the different subtypes of HIV found around the world. Recognizing that a broadly effective vaccine against HIV would have to protect against all of them, researchers specifically injected the mice with an HIV strain different from the one used to develop HGP-30.

"These results provide evidence that HGP-30 may have worldwide applicability as an AIDS vaccine," Dr. Sarin said.

Blood from human vaccinated volunteers was shown to have antibodies to HGP-30 that recognize HIV subtypes A, B, C and E. Subtype A is mostly found in Africa. The B subtype is the dominant strain in the U.S. and Europe. Subtype C is dominant in Africa and parts of Asia. Subtype E is primarily found in Thailand.

Further, Dr. James Kahn, associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, found that volunteers who were vaccinated with HGP-30 for the study produced increased levels of a vaccine-specific antibody isotype different from that induced by other developmental AIDS vaccines. Previous research had shown that a loss of this antibody isotype related to progression from HIV infection to frank AIDS.

HGP-30 differs from other vaccine or immunogen candidates because it is a synthetic copy of a conserved part of the p17 core protein of the HIV virus. This part is subject to less variability than other parts of the virus -- parts like the envelope, which is the focus of most other AIDS vaccines under development.

According to UNAIDS' latest statistics, infection with HIV is far more common than previously thought. Over 30 million adults and children are now believed to be living with HIV infection. The number is expected to climb to more than 40 million by the year 2000, with the majority of new infections occurring in developing countries.

"Until a vaccine which addresses all of the global subtypes of the disease can be developed, the world will continue to be held hostage by HIV and its various subtype mutations," Dr. Sarin said. "We believe that HGP-30 represents the best candidate for an AIDS vaccine."

CEL-SCI Corporation (Amex: HIV - news), is a pioneer in the field of natural immunotherapy. In addition to developing the HGP-30 AIDS vaccine and booster treatment, it is also developing immune-based vaccines/treatments for cancer, AIDS, herpes simplex, malaria and tuberculosis.

* SCID or Severe Combined ImmunoDeficient mice are considered by many scientists to be the best available animal model for HIV because they lack their own immune systems and therefore, permit human cell growth.

When used in this report, the words "intend," "believes," "anticipated" and "expects" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, an inability to duplicate the clinic results demonstrated in preclinical studies, timely development of any potential products that can be shown to be safe and effective, receiving necessary regulatory approvals, difficulties in manufacturing any of the Company's potential products and the risk factors set forth from time to time in CEL-SCI Corporation's SEC filings, including but not limited to its report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 1996. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revision to these forward-looking statements which may be made to reflect the events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

SOURCE: CEL-SCI Corporation

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