AspenBio Pharma Joins Russell Microcap Index

CASTLE ROCK, CO--(Marketwire - June 30, 2008) - AspenBio Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: APPY), an emerging bio-pharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of novel drugs and diagnostics for humans and animals, has joined the Russell Microcap Index. The company became a member of the Russell Investments family of U.S. indexes upon their official reconstitution, made effective as of the market open today.

Membership in the Russell Microcap Index, which remains in place for one year, means automatic inclusion in the appropriate growth and value style indexes. Russell determines membership for its equity indexes primarily by objective, market-capitalization rankings and style attributes.

AspenBio Pharma president and CEO, Richard Donnelly, stated: "We expect our addition to the Russell Microcap Index will expose AspenBio to a broader base of institutional investors and bring more attention to our introduction of AppyScore™, the first blood-based test for human appendicitis which we officially initiated an FDA clinical trial for last week, as well as to our revolutionary single-chain animal reproduction products."

Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for both passive and active investment strategies. An industry-leading $4.4 trillion in assets currently are benchmarked to them.

Annual reconstitution of Russell indexes captures the 4,000 largest U.S. stocks as of the end of May, ranking them by total market capitalization to create the Russell 3000 Index and Russell Microcap. These investment tools originated from Russell's multi-manager investment business in the early 1980s when the company saw the need for a more objective, market-driven set of benchmarks in order to evaluate outside investment managers. Total returns data for the Russell Microcap and other Russell Indexes is available at http://www.russell.com/Indexes/performance/daily_total_returns_us.asp.

About Russell Investments

Russell Investments aims to improve financial security for people by providing strategic advice, world-class implementation, state-of-the-art performance benchmarks, and a range of institutional-quality investment products. With more than $213 billion in assets under management, Russell serves individual, institutional and advisor clients in more than 40 countries. Russell provides access to some of the world's best money managers. It helps investors put this access to work in corporate defined benefit and defined contribution plans, and in the life savings of individual investors.

Founded in 1936, Russell is a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. Headquartered in Tacoma, Wash., U.S., Russell has principal offices in Amsterdam, Auckland, Johannesburg, London, Melbourne, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto.

About AspenBio Pharma, Inc.

AspenBio Pharma is an emerging bio-pharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery; development, manufacture, and marketing of novel proprietary products, including those that enhance the reproductive efficiency of animals and that have large worldwide market potential. The company was originally formed to produce purified proteins for diagnostic applications and has become a leading supplier of human hormones to many of the nation's largest medical diagnostic companies and research institutions. The company has successfully leveraged this foundational science and technology expertise to rapidly develop an enviable late-stage pipeline of several novel reproduction hormone analogs for wide-ranging therapeutic use initially in bovine and equine species. AspenBio Pharma continues to advance the development and testing of its two first-generation blood-based human diagnostic tests designed to rapidly help diagnose or rule out appendicitis in patients complaining of abdominal pain. For more information, go to http://www.aspenbiopharma.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes "forward-looking statements" of AspenBio Pharma, Inc. ("APPY") as defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included in the press release that address activities, events or developments that APPY believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on certain assumptions made based on experience, expected future developments and other factors APPY believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Such statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of APPY. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including statements regarding any assurance that inclusion in the Russell Microcap Index will broaden our investor exposure, or otherwise benefit APPY or its stock, the ability to successfully complete the clinical trials and pivotal studies required for FDA submission, obtain FDA approval for, cost effectively manufacture and generate revenues from the appendicitis test as well as the animal products under this agreement and other new products, execute agreements required to successfully advance the company's objectives, retain the scientific management team to advance the products, overcome adverse changes in market conditions and the regulatory environment, fluctuations in sales volumes, obtain and enforce intellectual property rights, and realization of intangible assets. Furthermore, APPY does not intend (and is not obligated) to update publicly any forward-looking statements. The contents of this news release should be considered in conjunction with the warnings and cautionary statements contained in APPY's recent filings with the SEC.