PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 20, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. (NYSE MKT:HEB) (the "Company" or "Hemispherx"), announced that a federal judge in Delaware has dismissed all claims against Hemispherx and the Sage Group brought by Cato Capital in an order and decision dated September 29, 2014. The decision comes following a three day trial before a judge in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, which considered several multimillion dollar claims brought by Cato Capital. The Court's order completely vindicated Hemispherx and the Sage Group of any wrongdoing and denied Cato Capital's claims against Hemispherx for breach of contract and fraudulent inducement. On October 14, 2014, Hemispherx' lead trial counsel James J. Black, filed a motion for recovery of fees and costs seeking recovery for Hemispherx of approximately one million dollars based upon contractual fee shifting provisions in the subject contract.
"A similarly meritless multimillion dollar case against Hemispherx was taken to a federal jury trial in Atlanta (http://www.hemispherx.net/content/investor/default.asp?goto=775 ) earlier this year," observed Thomas K. Equels, Hemispherx' General Counsel. "After more than a week in trial, the federal jury needed just one hour to determine that the Atlanta case against Hemispherx was without merit. Now a federal judge has reached the very same conclusion in litigation brought against Hemispherx by Cato Capital in Delaware. Simply put, our company will aggressively defend meritless litigation and pursue the losing party to recover fees and costs to the fullest extent allowed by law." A cost judgment was obtained against the plaintiff in the Atlanta case.
Recently, in an effort to deter and shift the costs of meritless litigation, the Board of Directors of Hemispherx enacted a fee shifting bylaw allowing the Company to recover fees and costs against stockholders who bring meritless claims against Hemispherx.
About Hemispherx Biopharma
Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. is an advanced specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in the manufacture and clinical development of new drug entities for treatment of seriously debilitating disorders. Hemispherx's flagship products include Alferon N Injection® and the experimental therapeutics Ampligen® and Alferon® LDO. Ampligen® is an experimental RNA nucleic acid being developed for globally important debilitating diseases and disorders of the immune system, including Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Hemispherx's platform technology includes components for potential treatment of various severely debilitating and life threatening diseases. Because both Ampligen® and Alferon® LDO are experimental in nature, they are not designated safe and effective by a regulatory authority for general use and are legally available only through clinical trials. Hemispherx has patents comprising its core intellectual property estate and a fully commercialized product (Alferon N Injection®), approved for sale in the U.S. and Argentina. The Company's Alferon N approval in Argentina includes the use of Alferon N Injection (under the brand name "Naturaferon") for use in any patients who fail or become intolerant to recombinant interferon, including patients with chronic active hepatitis C infection. The Company wholly owns and exclusively operates a GMP certified manufacturing facility in the United States for commercial products. For more information please visit www.hemispherx.net.
Disclosure Notice
The information in this press release includes certain "forward-looking" statements (explained below), including statements about the remaining steps to potentially gain regulatory approval of Ampligen® for the treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The final results of these and other ongoing activities could vary materially from Hemispherx's expectations and could adversely affect the chances for regulatory approval of Ampligen®. These activities and the ultimate outcomes are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to risks that (i) that the application may not be accepted by the appropriate regulatory agencies or such acceptance may be delayed and (ii) regulatory may ask for additional data, information or studies to be completed or provided prior to approval. Any failure to satisfy the regulatory agencies requirements could significantly delay, or preclude outright, approval of the Ampligen® in the Latin American Countries that we are submitting these applications. Further the filing of a motion to recover fees and costs does not assure that Hemispherx will prevail or that any judgment resulting therefrom is fully collectible.
Information contained in this news release, other than historical information, should be considered forward-looking and is subject to various risk factors and uncertainties. For instance, the strategies and operations of Hemispherx involve risk of competition, changing market conditions, changes in laws and regulations affecting these industries and numerous other factors discussed in this release and in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The final results of these efforts could vary materially from Hemispherx's expectations.
Forward-Looking Statements
The foregoing release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by words such as "will be, investigative, interim" or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential efficacy for Hemispherx's Ampligen®, or regarding potential future revenues from Ampligen®. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of Management regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that Ampligen® will receive regulatory approval or be commercially successful in the future. In particular, management's expectations regarding Ampligen® could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including unexpected clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; unexpected regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; the Company's ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; general economic and industry conditions; global trends toward health care cost containment, including ongoing pricing pressures; unexpected manufacturing issues, and other risks and factors described in Hemispherx's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the most recent reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Hemispherx is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.