Press Release

For Immediate Release

BOTHELL, WA — Sept. 15, 2009 — AVI BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVII), a developer of RNA-based drugs, today announced that management will participate in the following upcoming investment conferences in New York.

UBS Global Investment Conference
Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009
1 p.m. ET
Dr Stephan Shrewsbury, Senior Vice President Preclinical, Clinical and Regulatory Affairs and Chief Medical Officer, will present and provide an update from recent clinical trials, including a safety update on the ongoing clinical trial evaluating the systemic delivery of AVI-4658 for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

Maxim Group Growth Conference
Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009
2 p.m. ET
David Boyle, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer will provide a corporate overview and company update.

JMP Securities 2009 Healthcare Focus Conference
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
11 a.m. ET
Leslie Hudson, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer will provide a corporate overview and company update.

The presentations at the UBS and JMP conferences will be audio webcast live and will be accessible by visiting the "Events and Presentations" section of the AVI BioPharma website www.avibio.com.

About AVI BioPharma

AVI BioPharma is focused on the discovery and development of RNA-based drugs utilizing proprietary derivatives of its antisense chemistry (morpholino-modified phosphorodiamidate oligomers or PMOs) that can be applied to a wide range of diseases and genetic disorders through several distinct mechanisms of action. Unlike other RNA-based therapeutic approaches, AVI's antisense technology has been used to directly target both messenger RNA (mRNA) and its precursor (pre-mRNA), allowing for both up- and down-regulation of targeted genes and proteins. AVI's RNA-based drug programs are being evaluated for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy as well as for the treatment of cardiovascular restenosis through our partner Global Therapeutics, a Cook Group Company. AVI's antiviral programs have demonstrated promising outcomes in Ebola Zaire and Marburg Musoke virus infections and may prove applicable to other viral targets such as the H1N1 strain of influenza, HCV or Dengue viruses. For more information, visit www.avibio.com.