PRNewswire - November 22, 1999

** Do you have any results from your phase II HIV vaccine study? The HGP-30W preventive HIV vaccine for HIV-1 subtype C is nearing the end of a phase II human study in The Netherlands. The volunteers have completed their vaccinations and follow-up period. Preliminary results suggest that the vaccine is safe and that it induces both cellular (e.g., T-cell) and humoral (antibody) immune responses. Further analyses of the data for these immune responses are in progress in both the U.S. and the Netherlands. The Company intends to present the final results at an appropriate HIV/AIDS conference and/or publish them in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

** You have stated before that you want to develop a HIV vaccine for the developing countries. What have you done that would give your vaccine a greater chance of working in these countries?

We have never reported this, but our vaccine is based on the HIV-1 subtype C, which is the most prevalent subtype (about 50% of all HIV infections) in the world and is dominant in Southern Africa, India and China. Subtype C seems to spread aggressively in heterosexuals and may in the future become a problem in the developed world as well. Right now, our sole focus for the vaccine is to help the developing countries control infection from HIV-1 subtype C.

** Are there other HIV vaccines in human studies directed against subtype C?

Not to our knowledge. Several HIV-1 vaccines have been tested or are currently being tested in the developing world, but all of them are reportedly based on subtype B, the prevalent subtype in the U.S. and Western Europe. Only one company has made a vaccine specific to subtype E, prevalent in Thailand. The HGP-30W HIV vaccine is the only HIV-1 subtype C based vaccine in human studies. This places CEL-SCI several years ahead of others in the development of a potential preventive HIV vaccine for countries such as South Africa, India and China, about half of the world's population.

** Some HIV vaccine studies are being conducted in the developing countries. Are those vaccines based upon the HIV subtypes of the developing world or on subtype B, prevalent in the U.S. and Western Europe?

As noted earlier, all the vaccines we know of, except the one for Thailand, use the HIV-1 subtype B as the basis of the vaccine. Most scientists believe that it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to use a HIV-1 subtype B based vaccine to also protect against HIV-1 subtype C.

** Does this raise serious ethical questions?

Yes. Serious ethical questions have been and continue to be raised on why Western researchers and pharmaceutical companies are conducting human studies in the developing world with HIV-1 vaccines designed for the U.S. and Western Europe. When we reviewed this question several years ago, we could not justify the use of a vaccine based on the HIV-1 subtype B for clinical trials in Africa or Asia. Therefore, once we made the decision to design a vaccine for the developing countries, we redesigned our HGP-30 HIV vaccine to work primarily against their biggest threat, HIV-1 subtype C.

** Who will pay for the vaccine in the developing world?

Earlier this year, the World Bank announced that it was planning to set up a $5 billion fund to help developing countries purchase those HIV vaccines proven to be effective.

Background on HGP-30W AIDS Vaccine:

The HGP-30W AIDS vaccine is a synthetic peptide vaccine that is based on a relatively well-conserved (non-mutating) region of the HIV core protein p17. The amino acid sequence of HGP-30W contains at least 2 CTL epitopes as well as T- and B-cell epitopes, which elicit both cytotoxic and helper T-cell immune responses directed towards HIV-1. CTL responses against one of the epitopes found in the HGP-30W HIV vaccine have also been found to be present in HIV-infected long-term non-progressors. This indicates a possible correlation between the presence of these specific CTLs and the lack of disease progression.

In contrast to vaccines based upon an outside piece of the virus (the envelope) which mutates rapidly, making protection very difficult to achieve, the HGP-30 region of HIV is relatively well-conserved ("non-changing target").

The vaccine is designed to preferentially induce cellular (e.g. T-cell) immune responses that can kill and remove virus-infected cells, while the envelope-based vaccines primarily induce neutralizing antibodies that bind free virus circulating in the blood, but cannot kill virus within the infected cell.

In a study published in the January 1999 issue of Vaccine, researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center reported that the HGP-30 AIDS vaccine demonstrated 78% protection against HIV infection in an in vivo human surrogate virus challenge model (SCID mouse).

The vaccine had previously been tested in two human studies in the U.S. and U.K. and was found to be safe and immunogenic. In June of 1998, CEL-SCI started a phase II clinical trial in The Netherlands with a HIV vaccine targeted towards the HIV-1 subtype C (HGP-30W). This vaccine has been designed to work best against the virus subtype prevalent in Southern Africa, India and China.

More information on this vaccine is available at http://www.cel-sci.com/.

When used in this report, the words "intends," "believes," "anticipated," "expects" and "suggest" 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, 1998. 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

CONTACT: Prem Sarin, Ph.D., media, Sr. V.P. of Infectious Diseases, of CEL-SCI Corporation, 703-506-9460; or Daryll Strahl, investors, 970-377-2216, for CEL-SCI Corporation/

Web Site: http://www.cel-sci.com/
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