Nanoviricides Found Highly Effective against Ebola by USAMRIID

Tuesday February 19, 7:00 am ET

Broad-spectrum Nanoviricides Demonstrated to Have Excellent Efficacy
in Cell Culture Studies

WEST HAVEN, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NanoViricides, Inc. (OTC BB: NNVC.OB) (the "Company"), announced today that the broad-spectrum nanoviricides™ drug candidates were found to be highly effective against the deadly Ebola virus in initial cell culture studies by scientists at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID).

“The fact that the same drug candidates that were highly effective against common influenza and rabies in animal studies and bird flu (H5N1) in cell culture studies were also found to be highly effective against the deadly Ebola virus clearly indicates that these nanoviricides are truly broad-spectrum,” said Eugene Seymour, MD, MPH, CEO of the Company, about the results.

“We have identified common mechanisms by which these very different types of viruses bind to cells and enter cells. We have designed the nanoviricides to display the same features that these viruses look for on the host cell. Our nanoviricides essentially mimic the host cell. We believe this results in fooling the virus to bind to the nanoviricide and be destroyed,” said Anil R. Diwan, Ph.D., President of the Company, adding, “We now have a phenomenal streak of successes of this biomimetic technology as broad-spectrum antivirals.”

Animal studies to test the efficacy of these nanoviricides drug candidates against Ebola infection will be undertaken shortly, according to USAMRIID scientists.

USAMRIID and NanoViricides entered into a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) in October, 2007. The resulting joint R&D effort enables USAMRIID scientists to test the efficacy of several NanoViricides, Inc. anti-viral nanomedicines against deadly hemorrhagic fever viruses at the Ft. Detrick, Maryland BSL4 facilities.

It is hoped that success against the deadly Ebola virus will lead to further success against other virulent pathogens such as hanta viruses, Marburg virus, Junin virus, Machupo virus, and Rift Valley fever virus. There are currently no FDA-approved treatment options for these diseases.

About USAMRIID

USAMRIID, located at Fort Detrick, Maryland, is the lead medical research laboratory for the U.S. Biological Defense Research Program, and plays a key role in national defense and in infectious disease research. The Institute’s mission is to conduct basic and applied research on biological threats resulting in medical solutions (such as vaccines, drugs and diagnostics) to protect the warfighter. USAMRIID is a subordinate laboratory of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command.

The Institute is working to develop therapeutics for a number of agents, such as Ebola virus, plague, several toxins, and orthopoxviruses.

The information contained in this press release does not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the Government and no official endorsement should be inferred.

About NanoViricides:

NanoViricides, Inc. (www.nanoviricides.com) is a development stage company that is creating special purpose nanomaterials for viral therapy. The Company's novel nanoviricide™ class of drug candidates are designed to specifically attack enveloped virus particles and to dismantle them. The Company is developing drugs against a number of viral diseases including H5N1 bird flu, seasonal influenza, HIV, hepatitis C, rabies, and dengue fever, among others.

Contact:

NanoViricides, Inc.
Amanda Schuon, 310-550-7200
info@nanoviricides.com