AVI BioPharma Announces Late-Breaker Oral Presentation of Phase IIb DMD Study at 2012 AAN Annual Meeting in April

SOURCE: AVI BioPharma, Inc.

BOTHELL, WA--(Marketwire - Mar 12, 2012) - AVI BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVII), a developer of RNA-based therapeutics, today announced that an abstract describing the Company's Phase IIb study evaluating eteplirsen for the treatment of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy has been accepted as part of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Emerging Science program (formerly known as the Late-Breaking Science program). The brief oral presentation will take place during AAN's 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center from April 21 to April 28, 2012. AAN describes Emerging Science Abstracts as works of major scientific importance and representing scientific advances that emerged after the original October 2011 abstract deadline that warrant expedited presentation and publication. AVI's abstract does not contain study results, but a description of the study design and type of findings to be presented at the meeting.

"The results of this study represent an important milestone for the development of treatments for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and we are pleased that AAN agreed to include this first placebo-controlled study evaluating exon skipping in DMD as one of the 15 Emerging Science Abstracts for the conference this year," said Chris Garabedian, president and CEO of AVI BioPharma.

Jerry R. Mendell, M.D., of Nationwide Children's Hospital and principal investigator of the Phase IIb study, will deliver the presentation #004 at the Emerging Science Session on Wednesday, April 25 at approximately 5:54pm CDT. The presentation is titled "A Phase IIb Placebo-Controlled Study of the Exon-Skipping Drug Eteplirsen in Subjects with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy." Abstracts will be featured in AAN's "data blitz" format, which consists of fifteen 3-minute oral presentations, during the first 45 minutes of the session from 5:45pm to 6:30pm CDT, followed by a more detailed poster presentation format from 6:30pm to 7:00pm CDT.

Dr. Mendell's presentation will be posted on the AVI BioPharma web site in the "Events & Presentations" section after the session is completed.

About Eteplirsen

Eteplirsen is AVI's lead drug candidate that is systemically delivered for the treatment of a substantial subgroup of patients with DMD. Data from clinical studies of eteplirsen in DMD patients have demonstrated a broadly favorable safety and tolerability profile and restoration of dystrophin protein expression.

Eteplirsen uses AVI's novel phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer (PMO)-based chemistry and proprietary exon-skipping technology to skip exon 51 of the dystrophin gene. By skipping exon 51, eteplirsen may restore the gene's ability to make a shorter, but still functional, form of dystrophin from mRNA. Promoting the synthesis of a truncated dystrophin protein is intended to improve, stabilize or significantly slow the disease process and prolong and improve the quality of life for patients with DMD.

AVI is also developing other PMO-based exon-skipping drug candidates intended to treat additional patients with DMD.

About AVI BioPharma

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AVI BioPharma Announces Late-Breaker Oral Presentation of Phase IIb DMD Study at 2012 AAN Annual Meeting in April