PRNewswire - December 19, 2002

"Receipt of this patent in one of the regions of the world most devastated by the AIDS epidemic gives us a base to further develop our core HIV vaccine," said Dr. Ronald B. Moss, president of The Immune Response Corporation. "Studies to date using this vaccine formulation have yielded early results in the ability to stimulate an HIV-specific immune response in HIV-negative hosts."

According to Dr. Moss, the patent awarded by South Africa is for a novel formulation whereby whole killed HIV-1 is stripped of its outer protein envelope and immunostimulatory sequences are added along with an adjuvant. This formulation process differs from that of REMUNE(R) and allows for a broader presentation in stimulating an immune response in HIV-negative subjects. The patent term is for 20 years from the international filing date or until the year 2020.

The Company previously released study results by the Southern Research Institute in collaboration with The National Institutes of Health and the Jonas Salk Foundation, which utilized this vaccine formulation to stimulate HIV-specific immune responses, resulting in the boosting of both antibody and cell mediated immunity in Rhesus macaques.

"Our goal with this vaccine formulation was to induce HIV-specific immunity as an approach for use as a preventive vaccine," Dr. Moss said. "Our initial results in animal studies led us to begin working in this area in terms of intellectual property protection and seeking partners to further develop on our early clinical work."

The Company also has submitted this vaccine formulation for patent protection in other parts of the world, including the U.S. and Europe, and is seeking appropriate partners to further develop this approach, Dr. Moss said.

According to recent reports from the U.S. Agency for International Development, over 4.2 million South Africans are infected with HIV/AIDS, or approximately 20 percent of the population. The agency estimates that one of every 10 new HIV/AIDS infections in the world occurs in South Africa, giving it the highest documented infection rate in the world. The current prevalence rate among adults is almost 23 percent (in 1992, it was roughly two percent).

Co-founded by medical pioneer Dr. Jonas Salk and based in Carlsbad, Calif., The Immune Response Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company developing immune-based therapies designed to treat HIV, autoimmune diseases and cancer. The Company also develops and holds patents on several technologies that can be applied to genes in order to increase gene expression or effectiveness, making it useful in a wide range of therapeutic applications for a variety of disorders. Company information is available at http://www.imnr.com .

This news release contains forward-looking statements. Actual results could vary materially from those expected due to a variety of risk factors, including, but not limited to, whether the Company will successfully raise proceeds from financing activities sufficient to fund additional trials and development of REMUNE(R) in South Africa, the United States, Europe or elsewhere, whether any such clinical trials will be successful in meeting their primary endpoints and whether the Company will be successful in commercializing REMUNE(R) in South Africa, the United States, Europe or in any other jurisdiction. These and other risk factors are discussed more thoroughly in The Immune Response Corporation's SEC filings, including but not limited to its report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2001 and report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2002. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements, which may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

SOURCE The Immune Response Corporation

Web Site: http://www.imnr.com

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