SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                                             Washington, D.C.

          Litigation Release No. 15905 / September 24, 1998

          SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. RANGARAO PANGULURI, ET AL.,
          Civil Action No. SACV 97-298 GLT (EEX) (C.D. Cal. April 9, 1997).

               The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the
          entry of final judgments ("Final Judgments") in the second of two
          related "bad news" insider trading cases involving the securities
          of Alpha 1 Biomedicals, Inc. ("Alpha 1") and SciClone Pharmaceu-
          ticals, Inc. ("SciClone").  The Commission's Complaint alleged
          that, in April 1994, Rangarao Panguluri, then a Fellow at Wayne
          State University in Detroit, Michigan, tipped a group of doctors
          practicing in Anaheim, California about the negative results of
          clinical tests of a new drug developed by Alpha 1 and licensed to
          SciClone.  Prior to the public announcement of the test results,
          the doctors traded in the securities of Alpha 1 and SciClone and,
          as a result, avoided losses and realized profits in the amount of
          $137,256.

               On September 17, 1998, Judge Gary L. Taylor of the United
          States District Court for the Central District of California
          entered Final Judgments against defendants Panguluri, Ravindra
          Alapati, Syam Gaddam, Gowtami Gaddam, and Ravi Makam.  The Final
          Judgments to which Alapati, the Gaddams, and Makam consented,
          without admitting or denying the Complaint's allegations, enjoin
          them from further violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities
          Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 thereunder,
          and order them to pay disgorgement of $61,000, $16,931, and
          $59,325, respectively, plus prejudgment interest thereon, and to
          pay civil penalties of $61,000, $16,931, and $59,325,
          respectively.  In addition, the Final Judgment to which Panguluri
          consented, without admitting or denying the Complaint's
          allegations, enjoins him from further violations of antifraud
          provisions of the Exchange Act and orders him to pay a civil
          penalty of $75,000, an amount equal to the total avoided losses
          and realized profits of his direct tippees.

              The Complaint alleged that Thymosin alpha 1 ("Thymosin"), an
          experimental, anti-hepatitis drug, was Alpha 1's primary product-
          in-development during the relevant period and underwent a well-
          publicized, double-blinded, Phase III clinical trial at three
          medical research institutions.  Successful performance by
          Thymosin in the Phase III clinical trial was a necessary step
          towards approval of the drug by the Food and Drug Administration.
          The Complaint also alleged that, on April 25, 1994, Dr. Panguluri
          and another doctor unblinded the study and learned that patients
          treated with Thymosin fared no better than patients given a
          placebo with respect to the study's most significant test
          parameter. The Complaint alleged that Panguluri tipped the
          negative results to his friends, Dr. Ravindra Alapati and Dr.
          Syam Gaddam, whose medical practice in California he was hoping
          to join upon completion of his fellowship.  Panguluri's tip
          prompted Alapati and Gaddam to immediately sell all their Alpha 1
          and/or SciClone securities, and Alapati to sell short 2,000
          shares of Alpha 1 stock, on April 25 and 26, 1994.  The Complaint
          further alleged that, after being tipped by Panguluri, Alapati,
          in turn, tipped his professional and social friend, Dr. Ravi
          Makam, and that Dr. and Mrs. Gaddam tipped Mrs. Gaddam's sister,
          who was not named as a defendant in the case.  Prior to the
          opening of the market on April 28, 1994, Alpha 1 announced the
          negative news about the Thymosin clinical trial.  The share price
          of both Alpha 1 and SciClone declined that day by approximately
          two-thirds.  See Litigation Release 15322, dated April 10, 1997,
          for additional information.