ASIANET: Medizone International, Inc. Announces Funding Program

SAN FRANCISCO, May 23 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ -- Medizone International, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: MZEI) today announces receipt of an Unconditional Funding Commitment from the Groundell Trust, an Asian-Pacific philanthropic investment group.  The Agreement provides for a placement of $10 million dollars US on the sale of 2,000,000 shares of the Company's stock valued at $5 per share. The Trust has agreed to place an additional $10 million dollars with the Company in 2001. That placement will be valued at a price scaled to the Company's performance.

Globally, hepatitis C, a lipid enveloped viral disease, is now of epidemic proportion with an estimated 300 million cases.  The numbers for the United States suggest approximately 4 million people are infected.  Hepatitis is now expected to rival and perhaps surpass HIV/AIDS as one of the most prolific viral killers over the next 10 years.

Dr. William Hitt, a recently retired Medizone International board member, has been working with ozone for more than two years during the course of his normal medical practice in Mexico.  While outside the auspices of the United States FDA, and conducted without a blind control group, the success obtained by practitioners at the William Hitt Center in treating hepatitis C with ozone has been extremely encouraging.  In a sampling of test results from 8 patients, in which post treatment follow-up information was available, viral loads by Polymerase Chain Reaction, taken at the onset of ozone therapy, then repeated following completion of the therapy were compared.  An average viral load reduction of 5 log, or 99.96% was achieved.  At the onset of treatment seven of the eight patients also had elevated liver enzyme levels as measured by SGOT and SGPT.  Following ozone therapy all of the SGOT (AST) U/L and SGPT (ALT) U/L measures fell into the normal range.   This pilot trial without a blind control group, conducted in an off shore setting, must be viewed as anecdotal.  On the other hand, all of the laboratory work was done at FDA approved reference laboratories in the United States to assure statistical reliability.  The pilot trial program has given the Company a great opportunity to define treatment dosages, frequency and protocols.  While ozone has been used for many years in Europe and other parts of the world in various modalities, Medizone believes that the protocols, dosages and patented delivery system  it is developing will soon prove to be the standard for the world.

Of great interest to the Company were the results of a 6-month post treatment follow up test of viral load.  Starting with the low post treatment figures already obtained, all 8 patients continued to show declines in viral load count that averaged 62.5% in the 6-month post treatment follow-up period without the benefit of additional ozone therapy.  Although it is somewhat premature to speculate on why this viral reduction would continue to occur well into the follow-up period, the Company believes that with the correct ozone treatment parameters involving concentration, exposure time, temperature, and route of administration, direct viral inactivation and humoral and cell mediated immune responses can be significantly enhanced. These changes become cumulative over time rendering the body more capable of effectively mounting an appropriate immune response that ultimately will either clear the infection or at least bring it back into control.  Consistent with other reports of responsibly practiced ozone therapy by medical professionals, no measurable toxic side effects have been reported or observed. In this study, all symptomatic complaints including fatigue disappeared and all subjects returned to normal lifestyles.

Now that a funding program has been made available to the Company, it intends to pursue a research agenda in Canada, beginning with hepatitis C. The necessary submissions to the Canadian authorities for permission to proceed will be forthcoming from the Company in the near future.  In the late 80's and early 90's Medizone was involved with an ozone research program in Canada with the Canadian Department of Defense Blood Forces Program.  Since that time Canada has also developed a serious hepatitis problem.  Canada is a tier 1 country that now has harmonized regulatory requirements with the United States FDA.  The Company looks forward to renewing its Canadian relationships through our wholly owned subsidiary, Medizone Canada Ltd., which will be making submissions to the Health Protection Branch.  The new Executive Director of Medizone Canada, Ltd., who will head the Canadian program and also serve as a Senior Vice President to Medizone International and member of the Board of Directors will be announced in June following the resignation period from his current position.  Following the proposed initial trials involving hepatitis, the Company will seek to expand its Canadian research agenda to address other lipid enveloped viral diseases such as HIV/AIDS, etc.  This funding program will be sufficient to complete all of the trials necessary to obtain initial regulatory approval for the Company's human anti-viral treatment program.

Medizone International, Inc., is a research and development stage company engaged in the development of an ozone based treatment for diseases caused by lipid enveloped viruses, including Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), Hepatitis B & C, Herpes and the development of its patented technology for the decontamination of blood, blood products and veterinarian serum products.  The Company has recently been granted a new patent for the external application of its Medizone technology to treat external pathogenic conditions.

This Press Release contains certain forward-looking statements about the Company's goals, expectations, intentions and anticipated future performance. The industry in which the Company proposes to operate is dynamic and intensely  competitive and there are many factors that could cause the forward-looking statements contained herein not to occur or the timing of their occurrence to be delayed.  With the exception of historical information, the matters discussed in this report are forward looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the results of ongoing clinical studies, economic conditions, product and technology development, production efficiencies, product demand, competitive products and competitive environment, successful testing, government regulatory issues and risks identified in the Company's filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE:  Medizone International, Inc.

CONTACT: Jill Marshall of Medizone International, Inc., 415-868-0300, or

Web site:  http://www.medizoneint.com