Exhibit 99.1

                              N E W S   R E L E A S E

            APHTON ANNOUNCES AUSTRALIA GRANTS ORPHAN-DRUG DESIGNATION
           FOR ITS ANTI-GASTRIN IMMUNOGEN G17DT FOR TREATMENT OF BOTH
                      GASTRIC CANCER AND PANCREATIC CANCER

                                December 19, 2002

Miami, FL - Aphton Corporation  (NASDAQ:  APHT) - Aphton announced today that it
received  official notice from the Therapeutic Goods  Administration  (TGA), the
regulatory  authority  in  Australia  equivalent  to  the  U.S.  Food  and  Drug
Administration, granting its anti-gastrin G17DT Immunogen Orphan-Drug status for
treatment of both gastric (stomach) cancer and pancreatic cancer.  Unlike in the
United States,  the Australian  orphan-drug  designation  automatically  confers
priority evaluation for the drug ahead of other evaluations.

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.

It is estimated that approximately 88,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer will be
diagnosed  in the US and  Europe  this  year.  The  prognosis  for most of these
patients is very poor. The great  majority of patients have advanced  disease at
the time of diagnosis and are considered  incurable,  with a very short survival
time. Surgery, when possible, and chemotherapy are the primary treatment options
currently available,  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  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

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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 or 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, except as may be required under applicable securities law.

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

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