CEL-SCI Corporation
8229 Boone Blvd. #802
Vienna, VA 22182
703-506-9460

                                      Filed by CEL-SCI Corporation  pursuant
                                     to Rule 425 Under the  Securities  Act
                                     of 1933 and deemed  filed  pursuant to
                                     rules   14A-12   and   14D-2   of  the
                                     Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

                                     Commission File No.:   000-10546
                                     Subject Company: Molecular Biosystems, Inc


The  following  press  release  is a  preliminary  communication  prior  to  the
commencement of an exchange offer and a proxy solicitation.

                                            MEDIA CONTACT:         INVESTOR
                                            Matt Haines            RELATIONS:
                                            The Pinnacle Group     Daryll Keys
                                            (516) 773-2477        (970) 377-2216

                       CEL-SCI SENDS LETTER TO MANAGEMENT
                          OF MOLECULAR BIOSYSTEMS, INC.

VIENNA, VA, October 24, 2000 --- CEL-SCI Corporation (AMEX: CVM), A DEVElOPER OF
CANCER IMMUNO-THERAPY  PRODUCTS,  announces today that it has sent the following
letter to Dr. Bobba venkatadri,  C.E.O. of Molecular  Biosystems,  Inc. (OTC BB:
MBIO):

                                October 23, 2000


Dr. Bobba Venkatadri
President and Chief Executive Officer
Molecular Biosystems, Inc.
10030 Barnes Canyon Road, Suite 100
San Diego, CA  92121-2789

Dear Bobba:

      Again, I must tell you that the Board of Directors of CEL-SCI  Corporation
was very surprised to learn on October 12 that Molecular Biosystems,  Inc. (MBI)
is selling itself to Alliance Pharmaceutical Corporation at a price of less than
$0.55 per share, along with consulting and employment contracts for the majority
of MBI's senior  management.  As you know, we have been  negotiating with MBI in
good  faith  for the last 6 months  with bona fide  offers to  acquire  MBI at a
significantly  higher price than the Alliance bid,  which the Board of Directors
of MBI accepted.  We even had a Definitive  Merger  Agreement nearly agreed upon
between our lawyers.  It is particularly  disturbing for your  shareholders that
your press release  discloses  that  Alliance's  offer is "subject to adjustment
downward under certain circumstances," which presumably means that the number of
Alliance shares,  which the MBI shareholders will receive,  may even be reduced.
Conversely,  it appears  that a drop in the share  price of  Alliance  would not
entitle MBI shareholders to a larger number of Alliance shares.






CEL-SCI Corporation
October 24, 2000
Page Two


      On  October  18,  you  rejected   another  offer  from  CEL-SCI  that  was
substantially higher than the Alliance offer that you had earlier accepted.  You
did so without informing your shareholders of the existence of our higher offer.
We are now making one last offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of MBI
for $0.76 per share (about $14.3 million) in CEL-SCI  Corporation  common stock,
as compared to the Alliance offer of $0.55 per share (about $10.4 million). This
price represents a significant premium over the price Alliance is offering.  For
the  purpose  of  establishing  the  value  of  CEL-SCI  common  stock  for this
transaction,  the  price of the  CEL-SCI  common  stock  will be the  arithmetic
average  of the per  share  closing  prices  of  CEL-SCI's  common  stock on the
American  Stock  Exchange  Composite  Tape for the 10 trading  days  immediately
preceding  the date  prior to the  closing  of this  transaction.  This offer is
subject to the approval of the MBI shareholders.

      We believe that both the substantially  higher price and the higher upside
potential of the combined company make this a compelling offer which you should,
based on your fiduciary responsibility, recommend to your shareholders. However,
given your behavior with our previous offers,  we will make this offer public so
that your shareholders will be aware of it.

                                                Sincerely,

                                                Geert Kersten
                                                Chief Executive Officer


THIS RELEASE IS FOR INFORMATIONAL  PURPOSES ONLY. IT IS NOT AN OFFER TO BUY OR A
SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO SELL ANY SHARES OF MOLECULAR BIOSYSTEMS, INC. COMMON
STOCK. THE SOLICITATION OF OFFERS TO BUY MOLECULAR  BIOSYSTEMS COMMON STOCK WILL
ONLY BE MADE PURSUANT TO A PROSPECTUS AND RELATED MATERIALS THAT CEL-SCI EXPECTS
TO SEND TO MOLECULAR BIOSYSTEMS SHAREHOLDERS.  A REGISTRATION STATEMENT RELATING
TO THESE  SECURITIES WILL BE FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE  COMMISSION.
THESE SECURITIES MAY NOT BE SOLD, NOR MAY OFFERS TO BUY BE EFFECTED PRIOR TO THE
TIME THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT BECOMES EFFECTIVE.  THIS COMMUNICATION SHALL NOT
CONSTITUTE  AN OFFER TO SELL OR THE  SOLICITATION  OF AN OFFER TO BUY, NOR SHALL
THERE  BE ANY SALE OF  THESE  SECURITIES  IN ANY  STATE  IN  WHICH  SUCH  OFFER,
SOLICITATION OR SALE WOULD BE UNLAWFUL PRIOR TO  REGISTRATION  OR  QUALIFICATION
UNDER THE SECURITIES LAWS OF ANY SUCH STATE.

THIS MATERIAL ALSO WILL BE FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE  COMMISSION AS
PART OF A TENDER OFFER STATEMENT. MOLECULAR BIOSYSTEMS SHAREHOLDERS ARE URGED TO
CAREFULLY READ THE COMPLETE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THOSE MATERIALS,  WHICH WILL
CONTAIN IMPORTANT  INFORMATION REGARDING THE EXCHANGE OFFER, PRIOR TO MAKING ANY
DECISIONS WITH RESPECT TO SUCH EXCHANGE OFFER.

CEL-SCI  AND  MOLECULAR  BIOSYSTEMS  SHAREHOLDERS  WILL BE ABLE  TO  OBTAIN  THE
PROSPECTUS,  THE REGISTRATION  STATEMENT AND THE TENDER OFFER STATEMENT REFERRED
TO  ABOVE,  WHEN  FILED  BY  CEL-SCI  WITH  THE  COMMISSION,  FOR  FREE  AT  THE
COMMISSION'S  WEBSITE AT  WWW.SEC.GOV OR FROM CEL-SCI BY DIRECTING SUCH REQUESTS
TO CEL-SCI CORPORATION AT (703) 506-9460.