AVI BioPharma Announces Additions to Board of Directors

    PORTLAND, Ore.--March 22, 2004--AVI BioPharma, Inc. (Nasdaq:AVII),
today announced that it will appoint Jack Bowman and John Hodgman to
its board of directors. Mr. Hodgman also will serve as chairman of the
Board Audit Committee. Raymond Ruddon, M.D., Ph.D., has also agreed to
accept a position on AVI's board, commencing at the company's annual
shareholder meeting. Together, Mr. Bowman, Mr. Hodgman and Dr. Ruddon
bring extensive biotechnology and pharmaceutical experience to AVI's
board.
    "AVI will benefit greatly from the long history and proven track
records of these three gentlemen, particularly their successful
experience in commercializing new therapies," said Denis R. Burger,
Ph.D., chief executive officer of AVI. "The combined industry,
commercialization, and financial experience of these men will be
invaluable to us as we work to move our NEUGENE(R) antisense therapies
closer to commercialization."
    Mr. Bowman has been chairman and CEO of NeoRx since 2003.
Previously he was company group chairman of Johnson & Johnson, with
global responsibility for most of the company's pharmaceutical and
diagnostic businesses from 1987 until his retirement in 1994. Before
joining J&J, Mr. Bowman was president of Lederle Laboratories and
corporate executive vice president of American Cyanamid. He currently
serves as a director on the boards of Celgene Corp. and Targeted
Genetics Corp. Mr. Bowman holds a bachelor of education degree from
Western Washington University.
    Mr. Hodgman has been president and chief executive officer of
Cygnus, Inc., since 1998 and chairman since 1999. He also is currently
a director of Immersion Corp. Mr. Hodgman joined Cygnus in 1994 as
vice president of finance and chief financial officer. From May 1995
to August 1998, Mr. Hodgman served as president and chief financial
officer of Cygnus Diagnostics, during which time he was responsible
for all commercialization efforts for the GlucoWatch Biographer, a
wearable glucose monitoring device. Before joining Cygnus, Mr. Hodgman
served in leadership and financial positions with Central Point
Software and ATEQ Corp. Mr. Hodgman holds a bachelor of science degree
from Brigham Young University and an MBA from the University of Utah.
    Dr. Ruddon joined Johnson & Johnson in 1997 as corporate director
in the Corporate Office of Science and Technology. In addition, Dr.
Ruddon served from 2000 to 2004 as corporate vice president and chief
scientific officer of J&J. Currently, Dr. Ruddon also serves as
adjunct professor of pharmacology at the University of Medicine and
Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Dr. Ruddon
earned a bachelor of science degree in chemistry, summa cum laude,
from the University of Detroit, and he has a Ph.D. in pharmacology and
an M.D. from the University of Michigan.
    Joseph Rubinfeld, Ph.D., former president and chief executive
officer of SuperGen, Inc., has retired from AVI's board of directors,
having served for six years. Dr. Rubinfeld will join AVI's scientific
advisory board in the area of oncology.
    "We're grateful for Dr. Rubinfeld's numerous contributions to our
board over the years," said Dr. Burger. "I know we all look forward to
continuing to tap his expertise through our scientific advisory board
in the years to come."
    The proposed new makeup of AVI's board will be in compliance with
the Sarbanes-Oxley requirements relating to board independence.

    About AVI BioPharma

    AVI BioPharma develops therapeutic products for the treatment of
life-threatening diseases using two technology platforms:
third-generation NEUGENE antisense drugs and cancer immunotherapy.
AVI's lead NEUGENE antisense compound is designed to target cell
proliferation disorders, including cardiovascular restenosis, cancer
and polycystic kidney disease. In addition to targeting specific genes
in the body, AVI's antiviral program uses NEUGENE antisense compounds
to target single-stranded RNA viruses, including West Nile virus, SARS
coronavirus, calicivirus and hepatitis C. AVI's second technology,
AVICINE (R), is a therapeutic cancer vaccine with late-stage trials
planned for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. More information about
AVI is available on the company's Web site at http://www.avibio.com/

    "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.

                                # # #

    CONTACT: AVI BioPharma, Inc.
             Michael Hubbard, 503-227-0554
             hubbard@avibio.com
             or
             Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates Inc. (Investors)
             Bruce Voss, 310-691-7100
             bvoss@lhai.com
             Jody Cain, 310-691-7100
             jcain@lhai.com
             or
             Waggener Edstrom Bioscience (Press)
             Wendy Carhart, 503-443-7000
             wendyc@wagged.com