Aethlon Medical and Exosome Sciences Announce Clinical Collaboration with Boston University CTE Center To Advance Diagnostic Candidate to Detect CTE in Former NFL Players

SAN DIEGO, PRINCETON, N.J. and BOSTON, Sept. 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Aethlon Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:OTCQB:AEMD), and its diagnostic subsidiary, Exosome Sciences, Inc. (ESI), announced today that a clinical collaboration with the Boston University (BU) CTE Center has been established to advance a blood-based diagnostic candidate that could identify Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in living individuals.

CTE is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that has been found at autopsy in former National Football League (NFL) players. At present, CTE can only be diagnosed through postmortem autopsy. The BU CTE Center has been a leading CTE research center since the disease was first defined.

Aethlon Medical develops targeted therapeutic devices to address infectious disease, cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. ESI (Aethlon subsidiary) develops exosome-based solutions to diagnose and monitor cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. Earlier this year, Aethlon disclosed that ESI researchers had successfully isolated exosome-based biomarkers transporting tau protein across the blood-brain barrier and into the circulatory system. The hallmark of CTE is an excess of accumulation of tau in the brain.

In the study, ESI researchers are evaluating and defining exosome and exosomal tau populations in blood samples collected from participants enrolled in the DETECT (Diagnosing and Evaluating Traumatic Encephalopathy Using Clinical Tests) study, under the direction of Dr. Robert Stern, Director of Clinical Research at the BU CTE Center.

The DETECT study is the first research project on CTE ever funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with support from the National Institute of Neurologic Diseases and Stroke (NINDS), the National Institute on Aging (NIA), and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). The ultimate goal of the study is to develop methods, including blood-based tests, that could diagnose CTE during life. The study has enrolled former NFL players (ages 40-69) and same-age "control" athletes who played non-contact sports. 

"Our colleagues at the CTE Center are premier thought leaders in the CTE field and have been instrumental in changing how the NFL and other high-risk sports respond to head trauma," stated Aethlon Medical CEO Jim Joyce, who also serves as Executive Chairman of ESI. "We are truly grateful for the opportunity to establish a blood-based test that could identify CTE in living individuals."

About CTE

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in athletes (and others) with a history of repetitive brain trauma, including symptomatic concussions as well as asymptomatic subconcussive hits to the head. CTE affects boxers, football players and other athletes who have a history of repetitive brain trauma. Repetitive trauma triggers a progressive degeneration of the brain tissue, including the build-up of an abnormal protein called tau. Symptoms of the neurodegeneration can develop months, years, or even decades after the last brain trauma or end of active athletic involvement. The brain degeneration is associated with memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, and, eventually, progressive dementia.

About The CTE Center


The CTE Center is part of the Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center (BU ADC), established in 1996 as one of 29 centers in the US funded by the National Institutes of Health to advance research on Alzheimer's disease and related conditions. In collaboration with other NIH-funded ADC's and the non-profit Sports Legacy Institute, CTE Center conducts high-impact, innovative research on CTE, including its neuropathology and pathogenesis, clinical presentation, genetics and other risk factors, biomarkers, methods of detection during life, and methods of prevention and treatment. Additional information can be found online at: www.bu.edu/cte

About Exosome Sciences, Inc.

Exosome Sciences (ESI), a majority wholly owned subsidiary of Aethlon Medical, Inc., develops exosome-based solutions to improve identification and monitoring of acute and chronic conditions. Our candidate products are focused toward diagnostic advancements in the fields of oncology, infectious disease and brain injury. Exosomes represent an optimal diagnostic target as diseased or injured cells release these particles into body fluids such as urine, blood, saliva and cerebrospinal fluid where they can be accessed for analysis. Our exosome-based assays unlock the ability to identify proteomic and genomic alterations underlying a wide-range of pathologies, thus allowing for the introduction of novel non-invasive "liquid biopsies". Additional information can be found online at www.ExosomeSciences.com

About Aethlon Medical, Inc.

Aethlon Medical creates medical devices that target unmet therapeutic needs in infectious disease, cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. The company's lead product is the Aethlon Hemopurifier®, a first-in-class device that selectively targets the rapid elimination of circulating viruses and tumor-secreted exosomes that promote cancer progression. Exosome Sciences, Inc. is a majority owned subsidiary that is advancing exosome-based products to diagnose and monitor cancer, infectious disease and neurological disorders. Additional information can be found online at 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 the ESI will not be able to commercialize its future products, that the FDA will not approve the initiation of the Company's clinical programs or provide market clearance of the company's products, future human studies whether revenue or non-revenue generating 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 as a standalone cancer or hepatitis C therapy or as a broad spectrum defense against viral pathogens, 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, the ability of the Company to meet the milestones contemplated in the DARPA contract, 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
(Office) 858.459.7800 x301
(Cell) 619-368-2000
[email protected]

Jim Frakes
Chief Financial Officer
858.459.7800 x300
[email protected] 

Maria Ober
Director of Communications
Boston University School of Medicine
617-638-8496
[email protected]

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SOURCE Aethlon Medical, Inc.