SAN MARINO, Calif., Aug. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Dr. Karen Newell, Ph. D., the lead researcher for bio technology company Viral Genetics (Pink Sheets: VRAL), will address the 4th Annual Aspen Symposium on Brain Tumor Immuno- and Stem Cell Therapy. Her presentation will highlight the potential for combining chemotherapy with compounds that interfere with the ability of brain tumor cells to generate the energy needed to repair chemotherapy induced DNA damage. This repair mechanism is the major source of drug resistance in patients receiving Temozolomide, a widely used chemotherapy for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme, or GBM. This combinatorial approach of chemotherapy and metabolic disruption is one of the clinical strategies currently being pursued by Viral Genetics' subsidiary MetaCytoLytics, Inc. The presentation entitled, "Metabolic Disruption as a Mechanism to Potentiate Temozolomide Therapy in Glioblastoma Multiform," is scheduled for 11:10 a.m. on Wednesday, August 12, 2009. At the conference presented by the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Dr. Newell's audience largely will be neurosurgeons and neuro-oncologists.

"Metabolic disruption technology has been around for nearly eighty years," explained Dr. Newell. "Until recently it wasn't understood in a way that enabled researchers to harness it to combat drug resistant cells. That process now has the potential to impact the primary cause of death in cancer patients - drug resistant tumors."

According to MetaCytoLytics CEO, Dr. Richard Trauger, metabolic disruption technology has become a focal point for many cancer researchers because of its ability to limit the ability of the tumor cell to repair itself after damage from chemotherapy. DNA damage repair takes energy, and by going after the fuel sources for the cancer cells, specifically glucose and fatty acids, we have been able to dramatically limit the fuel tumor cells require to repair the damage done by chemotherapy. Dr. Newell's work illustrates the benefit of using metabolic disruption in combination with chemotherapy to not only directly starve the tumor cells but to also prevent them from resisting the effects of the chemotherapy."

ABOUT VIRAL GENETICS:

Headquartered in San Marino, California, Viral Genetics discovers and develops drug therapies to treat infectious, autoimmune, and immunological deficiency disorders using its thymus nuclear protein compound (TNP). The company recently entered into an Exclusive License Agreement with the University of Colorado and V-Clip Pharmaceuticals (a subsidiary of the Company) to license technology developed by M. Karen Newell, PhD, that appears to explain TNP and provide a means to optimize therapies based on TNP for future clinical trials. Viral Genetics believes that its investigational HIV/AIDS drug based on TNP, called VGV-1, represents a unique approach to treating HIV due to the apparently novel mechanism, low toxicity profile, simple dosing regimen, and short-course of treatment. Viral Genetics recently formed a wholly owned subsidiary called MetaCytoLytics, Inc, to advance a technology developed by University of Colorado Professor M. Karen Newell called "metabolic disruption technology" (MDT), which focuses on blocking a tumor cell's ability to generate energy from glucose or from fatty acids. Viral Genetics has an option to acquire exclusive rights to the metabolic disruption technology from the University of Vermont and the University of Colorado, where the technology was invented and developed by Dr. Newell. Viral Genetics is completing negotiations to convert the option into an exclusive worldwide license covering a broad range of uses and specific therapeutic compositions. Online at www.viralgenetics.com.

SAFE HARBOR FOR FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties associated with financial projections, budgets, milestone timelines, clinical development, regulatory approvals, and other risks described by Viral Genetics, Inc. from time to time in its periodic reports filed with the SEC. VGV-1 is not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration or by any comparable regulatory agencies elsewhere in the world. While Viral Genetics believes that the forward-looking statements and underlying assumptions contained therein are reasonable, any of the assumptions could be inaccurate, including, but not limited to, the ability of Viral Genetics to establish the efficacy of VGV-1 in the treatment of any disease or health condition, the development of studies and strategies leading to commercialization of VGV-1 in the United States, the obtaining of funding required to carry out the development plan, the completion of studies and tests on time or at all, and the successful outcome of such studies or tests. Therefore, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements included in this release will prove to be accurate. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking statements included herein, the forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by Viral Genetics or any other person that the objectives and plans of Viral Genetics will be achieved.

Contact: Haig Keledjian, 626-334-5310