Aethlon Medical establishes ESI as a wholly owned subsidiary

Oct 23 2009

Aethlon Medical, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: AEMD) announced today that it has established Exosome Sciences, Inc. (ESI) as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company.

ESI will seek to leverage the recent discovery that the Hemopurifier®, a medical device developed by Aethlon Medical as a broad-spectrum therapy against infectious viral pathogens, is effective in capturing exosomes that are secreted by solid tumors, lymphomas, and leukemia to suppress the immune response in cancer patients. Aethlon Medical, Inc. will contribute into ESI all exosome-related patents and patents pending.

Jim Joyce, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aethlon Medical, Inc. said, "The ability to reduce circulating exosomes would likely reverse immune suppression and increase patient responsiveness to both immunotherapy and chemotherapy, thus positioning ESI to participate in the $43 billion cancer therapy market. ESI also plans to advance exosome diagnostic and research services, and explore recently discovered opportunities to address exosomes in disease conditions beyond cancer."

In the last year alone, an increasing number of research driven science publications reveal that exosomes have implications in inflammatory conditions including Sepsis, bacterial infections including Tuberculosis (TB), autoimmune conditions such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, and neurological and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease The growth in the exosome industry is further evidenced by published research and citations increasing from 140 articles in 2001 to 1,160 articles and citations in 2008.

"ESI allows us to leverage the previously unrecognized value of our non-infectious disease research into a new asset that positions us to be an important participant in the emerging exosome industry. We also maintain the option of installing an independent management team at ESI and if appropriate in the future, may spin out part or all of ESI as a means to achieve fuller valuation for Aethlon Medical shareholders," concluded Joyce.

A recent publication entitled, "Exosomes as a Tumor Immune Escape Mechanism: Possible Therapeutic Implications" discusses the potential for the Hemopurifier® to become the first therapeutic strategy to inhibit the immune suppression caused by tumor secreted exosomes. The abstract and complete article is available to be accessed online at: www.translational-medicine.com/content/6/1/37.