Press Release

For Immediate Release

BOTHELL, WA — November 18, 2009 — AVI BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVII), a developer of RNA-based drugs, today announced that Patrick Iversen, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Strategic Alliances, will present at the upcoming Transformational Medical Technologies Initiative (TMTI) Industry Day taking place in Dallas, Texas.

Dr. Iversen will present on Thursday, Nov 19, as part of a “Performers Panel” in which a panel of current TMTI performers from academia, biotechnology companies and large pharmaceutical firms will provide their perspectives on lessons learned from their experiences, timeframes and what was required in order to effectively do business with the TMTI.

The Transformational Medical Technologies Initiative (TMTI) Industry Day is being held as an ancillary workshop during the Chemical and Biological Defense Science and Technology (CBD S&T) Conference. TMTI Industry Day brings together professionals from government, academia, and the biotechnology and  pharmaceutical industries to learn about TMTI and discuss collaborative opportunities with the program, the current state of medical countermeasure preparedness, and plans for enhancing national capabilities to respond to emerging and novel biological threats.

AVI’s RNA-based drugs against biological threats, including influenza, Ebola, Marburg and Junin viruses, are being supported by contract funding from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s (DTRA) Transformational Medical Technologies Initiative (TMTI) and carried out in collaboration with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID. The majority of the collaborative research effort between AVI and USAMRIID has been supported by a research contract from the DoD’s TMTI with the goal of developing a new antiviral platform targeting hemorrhagic fever viruses.

About DTRA & TMTI

DTRA was founded in 1998 to integrate and focus the capabilities of the DoD that combat the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) threat. The mission of the DTRA is to safeguard America and its allies from WMD (e.g. chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high yield explosives) by providing capabilities to reduce, eliminate, and counter the threat, and thereby mitigate its effects. Under DTRA, DoD resources, expertise and capabilities are combined to ensure the United States remains ready and able to address the present and future WMD threats.

The TMTI was created by the DoD to protect the Warfighter from emerging and genetically altered biological threats by discovering and developing a wide range of medical countermeasures through enhanced medical research, development, test and evaluation programs. The TMTI Program Office is matrixed from the Joint Science and Technology Office – DTRA and Joint Program Executive Office – Chemical and Biological Defense, with oversight from the Office of the Secretary of Defense.  For more information on TMTI, visit www.tmti-cbdefense.org.

 About USAMRIID

USAMRIID, located at Fort Detrick, Maryland, is the lead medical research laboratory for the U.S. DoD Biological Defense Research Program. The Institute conducts basic and applied research on biological threats resulting in medical solutions (such as vaccines, drugs and diagnostics) to protect the Warfighter. While USAMRIID’s primary mission is focused on the military, its research often has applications that benefit society as a whole. USAMRIID is a subordinate laboratory of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. For more information, visit www.usamriid.army.mil.

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 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, including an ongoing systemic Phase 1b/2 clinical trial of exon skipping AVI-4658.  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 Junin, influenza, HCV or Dengue viruses.  For more information, visit www.avibio.com.

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“Safe Harbor” Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements that are not historical facts contained in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the results of research and development efforts, the results of preclinical and clinical testing, the effect of regulation by the FDA and other agencies, the impact of competitive products, product development, commercialization and technological difficulties, and other risks detailed in the company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings.