Good day and welcome to the AVI BioPharma Incorporated second quarter earnings conference call. Today’s conference is being recorded. At this time I would like to turn the conference over to your host Michael Hubbard. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Rochelle. This is Michael Hubbard, Director of Corporate Communications for AVI BioPharma. Thank you for participating in today's call. Earlier this morning we released the financial results for the second quarter of 2008, which will be available on our website at www.avibio.com. Joining me this morning from AVI are Dr. Leslie Hudson, Chief Executive Officer, and Alan Timmins, President and Chief Operating Officer. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that comments made by management during this conference call will include forward–looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. These forward–looking statements involve material risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of risk factors, I'd encourage you to review the AVI BioPharma Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent report as filed with the SEC. Furthermore, the content of this conference call contains time-sensitive information that is accurate only as of the date of the live broadcast, August 11th, 2008. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this conference call. With that said, I'd like to turn the call over to Dr. Hudson.

Thanks Michael, and good morning and thank you all for joining us. This morning in addition to the financial commentary, which Alan will provide in a second, I would like also to provide you with some richness on behalf of the new management team of AVI as we progress in our plan to convert an antisense pioneer into a world-class Company specializing in the discovery and development of RNA-based drugs. Then we’ll have a question-and-answer session. So, let’s start with Alan. Alan, please, could we cover the second quarter financials?

Thanks, Les, and good morning to all of you joining us on the call and over the Internet. Today, I would like to review our 2008 second quarter and six month financial results, including our current cash position, and also discuss our continued 2008 financial guidance. Revenues for the 2008 second quarter were $5 million, up from $2.4 million in the prior year quarter, reflecting increases in research contracts revenues of $2.6 million. The net loss for the second quarter of 2008 was $1.8 million, or $0.02 per share, compared with a net loss for the second quarter of 2007 of $7.8 million, or $0.15 per share. Research and development expenses for the quarter decreased to $8.2 million from $9.2 million during the second quarter of 2007 and general and administrative expenses decreased to $1.7 million from $2 million in the prior year’s second quarter. The decrease in R&D expenses was due to decreases in government research contract expenses of $1.75 million, decreases in contract manufacturing costs of $330,000, and decreases in amortization of leasehold of $135,000. These amounts were partially offset by increases in professional consultant cost of $300,000, increases in purchases of government contract related equipment of $290,000, increases in net clinical expenses of $230,000, severance payments to certain former Ercole employees of $216,000, and increases in employee cost of $140,000. On June 10th, the Company announced its intent to close down its CABG trial and anticipates the savings from this ceased trial will be realized in subsequent quarters of 2008. Decrease in G&A expenses was due primarily to decreases in legal expenses of $215,000, employee cost of $52,000, and public and investor relation cost of $51,000. Revenues for the first half of 2008 were $10.6 million, up from $2.9 million in the first half of 2007, reflecting…

Alan, thanks very much indeed. So, as a Company, we are gaining traction. We are narrowing our guidance, as you heard. I think you will see many of the key indicators in our financial presentation are also compatible with that. Let me just pick up some of the key points in the corporate update and give you some richness there because I think it’s equally apparent that we are beginning to gain that traction in the other areas of our business. So first off, in terms of the announcement that the MHRA in the United Kingdom has given clearance for the Company to move forward with the Company-sponsored systemic trial of AVI-4658, this is the first Company-sponsored trial that we will be running with this drug. Francesco Muntoni will act as our principal investigator, and the trial will be open label and will involve up to 18 boys. The MHRA is of course the most important step in clearance for us to obtain. We are waiting a GTAC, which is the Government Advisory Committee on Genetic Manipulation. Even though in fact we have drug it’s not really gene therapy in the sense that we are not changing the DNA makeup of these boys. What we are doing is changing the readout from the RNA. And so under those circumstances the fact that we were able to get an open ethics extension allowed us to select and screen trial candidates in advance of GTAC approval, which we are formerly expecting to get early in the fourth quarter. Now, we have also an ongoing trial, which is the intermuscular study of AVI-4658. This was actually a Medex sponsored trial which the Company is supporting, obviously with drug substance and supply, and the update there concern the agreement from the MHRA that our…

Thank you. (Operator instructions).

Given that we have no questions currently, we thank you all for participating and I’ll turn it over once again for final comments by Dr. Hudson.

Well, thank you for listening. We had quite a number of callers and I hope at least it actually is a testimonial to the clarity of the new format of our press release that in fact it raised no questions. Hopefully though it did raise some interest. If I may end with a notice, we have an Analysts and Investors Breakfast on the 10th of September from 7:30 until 10:30. It will be at the Harvard Club of New York City. In addition to members of the management team, in particular the R&D leadership, because we want to take the opportunity of giving some depth around our new programs and their implications, also the ability to meet with the new CFO, we will actually have a presentation in the field of exon skipping particularly as it’s applied to DMD, and it will be given by Professor Francesco Muntoni, who although he is a collaborator of the Company in fact is also a well-recognized international expert in DMD. We look forward to you joining us there. We thank you for your courtesy and listening. And we wish you all a very good morning. Thank you very much indeed.

And that will conclude today’s call. We thank you for your participation.