AVI BioPharma Announces Corporate Name Change to Sarepta Therapeutics and Stock Ticker Symbol Change to "SRPT" Effective Today

AVI BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVII) today announced that it has changed its name to Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. ("the Company") and has effected a one-for-six reverse stock split. The name change and reverse stock split were approved by the Company's shareholders at its Annual Meeting of Shareholders held on July 10, 2012, and the specific one-for-six ratio was agreed upon and approved by the Company's Board of Directors. Sarepta is focused on the development of first-in-class RNA-based therapeutics to improve and save the lives of people affected by serious and life-threatening rare and infectious diseases. The Company's development programs include its lead therapeutic candidate, eteplirsen, for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), as well as potential treatments for the lethal hemorrhagic fever viruses Ebola and Marburg.

The Company's common stock will trade on a split-adjusted basis on The NASDAQ Global Market when the market opens today, July 12, 2012, and will trade under the new ticker symbol (NASDAQ: SRPT).

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