Aethlon Medical Announces the Appointment of Dr. Cicek Gercel-Taylor as Clinical Research Director of Exosome Sciences, Inc.

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Sep 24, 2013, 08:00 ET

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Aethlon Medical, Inc. (OTCQB: AEMD), announced today that Dr. Cicek Gercel-Taylor has been appointed Clinical Research Director of Exosome Sciences, Inc. (ESI), a wholly-owned diagnostic subsidiary of Aethlon Medical. In this role, Dr. Gercel-Taylor will direct and plan the execution of diagnostic clinical programs and interact with collaborative partners and regulatory authorities.

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Aethlon Hemopurifier. (PRNewsFoto/Aethlon Medical, Inc.) (PRNewsFoto/)

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Aethlon Medical develops therapeutic devices to address unmet medical needs in cancer, infectious disease, and other life-threatening conditions. The Company is preparing to launch the first U.S. studies of the Aethlon Hemopurifier® as a therapy to address hepatitis c virus (HCV) based on the recent approval of an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Hemopurifier® is a first-in-class device that targets the rapid elimination of viruses and cancer glycopathogens, including disease-promoting exosomes from circulation.

Exosome Sciences was recently launched by Aethlon to be a stand-alone organization that pursues exosome-based strategies to diagnose and monitor the progression of cancer, infectious disease and other life-threatening conditions. ESI's lead product, an Enzyme Linked Lectin Specific Assay (ELLSA) has been validated to identify the presence of exosomes underlying the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), tuberculosis (TB), and various forms of cancer, including ovarian, melanoma, breast, lymphoma, and colorectal.

Dr. Gercel-Taylor stated, "I am very excited to join Exosome Sciences as the Clinical Research Director. This is a very timely opportunity to develop clinically relevant exosome-based assays to enhance patient care with regard to risk assessment, diagnosis and treatment. The conditions are not limited to but include cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases, in addition to pregnancy complications and viral infections. Exosomes have ideal properties as biomarkers with their stability, ease of isolation and reflecting disease states. The ELLSA will enable the efficient development of disease specific and efficient platforms that can be standardized for clinical utilization. I have been involved in the development and characterization of exosomes since the early days three decades ago. I believe that we are ideally positioned to achieve this goal with our team at Exosome Sciences in collaboration with Aethlon Medical."

About Dr. Gercel-Taylor

Dr. Cicek Gercel-Taylor has been a pioneer in the field of exosome biology and in defining their nucleic acid and protein cargoes. She previously worked at the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health at the University of Louisville School of Medicine since 1992, and also is the Resident Research Coordinator. Her main research interest is in gynecological cancers, where she investigates the consequences of exosomes on genetic and epigenetic alterations induced in normal host target cells. She has explored the role of endogenous and exogenous hormones in modulating exosomal cargoes and the resulting effects on pathologic processes. A significant part of these investigations includes the identification and characterization of clinically relevant biomarkers, specifically proteomic and miRNA content of pathology-derived exosomes. Dr. Gercel-Taylor is the wife of Dr. Douglas Taylor, who was recently appointed Chief Scientific Officer of Exosome Sciences.

About Aethlon Medical

Aethlon Medical creates innovative medical devices that address unmet medical needs in cancer, infectious disease, and other life-threatening conditions. Our Aethlon ADAPT™ System is a revenue-stage technology platform that provides the basis for a new class of devices the rapid, yet selective removal of disease promoting particles from the entire circulatory system. At present, The Aethlon ADAPT product pipeline includes the Aethlon Hemopurifier to address infectious disease and cancer, and a medical device being developed under a 5-year contract with DARPA to reduce the incidence of sepsis in combat-injured soldiers. For more information, please visit www.aethlonmedical.com.

Certain statements herein may be forward-looking and involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements involve assumptions, known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Aethlon Medical, Inc. to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such potential risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, that Company may not be able to secure financing for ESI as a freestanding entity, that ESI will not be able to develop commercially successful products, the FDA will not approve the initiation of the Company's future clinical programs or provide market clearance of the Company's products, future human studies whether revenue or non-revenue generating from either compassionate use or non-compassionate use of the Aethlon ADAPT™ system or the Aethlon Hemopurifier® as an adjunct therapy to improve patient responsiveness to established cancer or hepatitis C therapies or sepsis therapies or as a standalone cancer or hepatitis C therapy or standalone sepsis therapy, the approval of the Company's technologies or products as a treatment against pandemic threats, the Company's ability to raise capital when needed, the Company's ability to complete the development of its planned products, the Company's ability to manufacture its products either internally or through outside companies and provide its services, the impact of government regulations, patent protection on the Company's proprietary technology, product liability exposure, uncertainty of market acceptance, competition, technological change, and other risk factors. In such instances, actual results could differ materially as a result of a variety of factors, including the risks associated with the effect of changing economic conditions and other risk factors detailed in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Contacts:

James A. Joyce
Chairman and CEO
858.459.7800 x301
[email protected]

Jim Frakes
Chief Financial Officer
858.459.7800 x300
[email protected]

Marc Robins
877.276.2467
[email protected]

SOURCE Aethlon Medical, Inc.