Exhibit 99.1

                              N E W S R E L E A S E

               APHTON ANNOUNCES FDA GRANTS ORPHAN-DRUG DESIGNATION
              FOR ITS ANTI-GASTRIN IMMUNOGEN G17DT FOR TREATMENT OF
                                 GASTRIC CANCER

                                  July 23, 2002

Miami, FL - Aphton Corporation  (NASDAQ:  APHT) - Aphton announced today that it
received official notice from the FDA granting its anti-gastrin  G17DT Immunogen
Orphan-Drug status for treatment of gastric (stomach) cancer. The FDA noted that
the indication  designated is broader than the indication  originally  sought by
Aphton.

On July 17, 2002,  Aphton announced that the FDA granted its anti-gastrin  G17DT
immunogen  Orphan-Drug  designation  for  treatment  of  adenocarcinoma  of  the
pancreas,  noting that the  indication  granted is broader  than the  indication
originally sought by Aphton.

The term "orphan-drug"  refers to a product that treats a rare disease affecting
fewer than 200,000 Americans. The Orphan Drug Act was signed into law on January
4, 1983. Since the Orphan Drug Act passed,  over 100 orphan drugs and biological
products have been brought to market.

Orphan-Drug  Status  confers a 7-year period of exclusive  marketing  rights for
G17DT for this indication,  thereby protecting it from similar drugs of the same
class.

In addition,  it qualifies the company to apply for grant amounts totaling up to
$900,000 over a 3-year period, with a maximum of $300,000 per year.

Furthermore,  the  requirement  for a $300,000 user fee that is payable with the
submission of a New Drug Application is waived for an Orphan Drug.

It is  estimated  that there are  approximately  570,000  patients  with gastric
cancer in the US, Europe and Japan,  alone.  The prognosis for the  overwhelming
majority of these  patients is very poor.  Patients  diagnosed  with  metastatic
disease have five-year  survival rates of only about three percent.  Surgery and
chemotherapy are the primary  treatment options  currently,  but have shown only
very  limited   benefit.   Aphton  believes  that  its   anti-gastrin   targeted
immunotherapy   approach   has  the   potential  to  extend   patient   survival
significantly, without adding toxicity.

Aphton is conducting one Phase III and three Phase II clinical trials.  Aphton's
anti-gastrin  targeted therapy induces  antibodies in patients that bind to both
gastrin 17 and gly-gastrin and remove them from circulation before they can bind
to the cancer  cell and


<PAGE>

initiate cell growth.  (Aphton believes this is the optimum method for achieving
"growth  factor  inhibition.")  Gastrin 17 and  gly-gastrin  are  believed to be
central  growth  factors,  or the  initiating  signals,  for cell  growth,  cell
proliferation  and metastasis  (spread) in gastric,  i.e.  stomach,  pancreatic,
esophageal,  colorectal and other  gastrointestinal  (GI) system  cancers.  This
signaling  program is  accomplished  by gastrin  binding to the large numbers of
gastrin  receptors  which appear,  de novo, in the great  majority of cases,  on
tumor cell surfaces throughout the  gastrointestinal  system.  Interrupting this
process by  immunizing  the patient with  Aphton's  anti-gastrin  immunogen is a
precisely  "targeted"  immunotherapy.  This specificity of targeting only cancer
cells occurs because gastrin is not normally  secreted and gastrin receptors are
not  normally  found  on  "healthy"  cells  in the GI  system,  unless  they are
malignant,  or on the path to malignancy  (except for cells involved with normal
acid secretion).

Recent  findings  have shown that  inhibiting  gastrin  not only  inhibits  cell
growth,  proliferation  and metastasis  directly,  but also "unblocks" a central
pathway leading to cell-suicide  (apoptosis).  This tilts the balance, from cell
growth, to cell suicide. This effect is amplified  synergistically when Aphton's
drug is given  together with a  chemotherapeutic.  Gastrin also  stimulates  the
secretion and expression of other important  growth factors and receptors within
and on the  surfaces  of the  cancer  cells  involved  in tumor  growth.  Hence,
inhibiting  gastrin inhibits all of the foregoing factors  contributing to tumor
growth  and  spread,  while  simultaneously  opening a central  pathway  to cell
suicide.  Aphton's  anti-gastrin targeted therapy adds a biological dimension to
the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers.

Aphton Corporation is a biopharmaceutical  company developing products using its
innovative  targeted  immunotherapy  technology for  neutralizing  hormones that
participate  in  gastrointestinal  system  and  reproductive  system  cancer and
non-cancer  diseases;  and the  prevention  of  pregnancy.  Aphton has strategic
alliances  with Aventis  (NYSE:  AVE) for treating  gastrointestinal  system and
other  cancers with G17DT in North  America and Europe;  GlaxoSmithKline  (NYSE:
GSK) for  reproductive  system cancer and  non-cancer  diseases  worldwide;  and
others.

Except for the historical  information  herein, the matters discussed herein are
forward-looking  statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties and
are not a guarantee of future performance. Future results may vary significantly
based on a  number  of  factors  including,  but not  limited  to,  intellectual
property  risks,  risks in regulatory and market  acceptance of new products and
continuing  demand for same,  the impact of  competitive  products  and pricing,
changing  economic  conditions  and other risk  factors that are inherent in the
drug development process and the company's business including those set forth in
Aphton's  most recent 10-K and other  filings with the  Securities  and Exchange
Commission. It is not possible to predict or identify all such risk factors that
could cause actual  results to differ from expected or historical  results.  The
company's actual results could differ from these forward-looking  statements and
the company  undertakes  no obligation  to update  publicly any  forward-looking
statement.

Contact: Aphton Corporation; Investor Relations, J.L. Whitmore, 305-374-7338.


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