Samaritan Starts Enrolling for Its PII Stage 2 (28 Day Monotherapy) Study of ''Oral'' Entry Inhibitor SP-01A

Samaritan Pharmaceuticals (AMEX:LIV):

   --  Completed Phase II Stage 1 (10 Day Monotherapy)

   --  Expect to Report Stage I Preliminary Results at Shareholders
        Meeting May 31st

   --  Expect Final PII Stage I Report July

   --  Currently Enrolling Phase II Stage 2

   Samaritan Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AMEX:LIV) a developer of
innovative drugs, announced today, it completed a Phase II Stage 1 (10
day monotherapy study) with 34 patients in which SP01A was being
evaluated as an adjunct therapy for treatment-experienced HIV patients
who are failing on their current anti-viral therapy. Samaritan also
notes it has started enrolling for its Stage 2 (28 day monotherapy
trial) and numerous Stage 1 evaluates are rolling over to Stage 2
which will count toward the 60 evaluates Samaritan intends to enroll
for the Phase II Stage 2.
   Dr. Janet Greeson, CEO of Samaritan stated, "Completing this 10
day HIV monotherapy study of SP01A is a significant milestone in its
clinical development. We anticipate locking the data from this study
at the end of this month and with a bit of luck will report
preliminary results at the shareholders meeting, May 31, 2006. We
expect to submit the (10 day monotherapy) final report to the FDA in
July 2006. We remain resilient in advancing SP01A through FDA clinical
trials hoping it might serve as a life-saving drug for HIV drug
resistant patients."

   Previously Completed Trial

   Phase I/II Proof of Concept Study: An 8-week, Phase I/II study,
conducted at AIDS Research Alliance in Hollywood, CA, was concluded
and reported in July of 2003. SP01A was associated with reductions in
HIV-1 viral load in patients with measurable HIV-1 in a dose dependent
manner. In the high dose group, mean HIV-1 viral load reduction of
1.34 log10 copies/ml was observed; 100% of the patients achieved HIV-1
viral loads below the limit of detection and a greater than 1.0 log
reduction was observed in 80% of the patients by Week 8. This level of
reduction in viral load is clinically relevant, particularly since
patients continued on background antiretroviral therapy throughout the
clinical trial. Consistent with a treatment effect of SP01A, HIV-1
viral load measurements showed a rebound increase when high dose SP01A
treatment was discontinued.
   For more information on this clinical trial, please go to the FDA
Clinical Trials Website at www.clinicaltrials.gov.

   Samaritan Pharmaceuticals: "We LIV....to Save Lives."

   Samaritan is a small-cap Biotech, driven to discover, develop, and
commercialize, innovative therapeutics' for AIDS, Alzheimer's, Cancer
and Heart disease. Look at www.samaritanpharma.com. Please register on
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events.

   Disclaimer

   The company disclaims any information that is created by an
outside party and endorses only information that is communicated by
its press releases, filings and Website. This news release contains
forward-looking statements that reflect management's current beliefs
about the potential for its drug candidates, science and technology.
However, as with any biopharmaceutical under development, there are
significant risks and uncertainties in the process of development and
regulatory review. There are no guarantees that products will prove to
be commercially successful. For additional information about the
factors that affect the company's business, please read the company's
latest Form 10-K filed April 15, 2005. The company undertakes no duty
to update forward-looking statements.

   NOTE TO EDITORS: in the term "log10" the 10 is subscript. It was
changed for transmission purposes only.