FAIRFIELD, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 29, 2007--Unigene
Laboratories, Inc. (OTCBB: UGNE) will receive a $2.5 million payment
to supply Novartis with specified quantities of a bulk peptide
necessary to support Novartis' development program for a novel
osteoporosis treatment. Over the next several months, Unigene will use
its patented manufacturing technology to develop an FDA-compliant
process for the peptide, and Novartis will have the opportunity to
purchase additional quantities as necessary. Some of this material may
be used in clinical studies.
In 2004, Novartis exclusively licensed Unigene's technology to
manufacture another peptide, calcitonin, and it now runs the scaled-up
process at its manufacturing facility in Kundl, Austria.
"We are very pleased to expand our relationship with Novartis,"
commented Dr. Ronald S. Levy, Executive Vice President of Unigene.
"They have a strong commitment to peptide therapeutics as well as to
osteoporosis products. Our calcitonin collaboration has been extremely
successful, and we hope to have additional opportunities to work with
them."
About Unigene
Unigene Laboratories, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focusing
on the oral and nasal delivery of large-market peptide drugs. Due to
the size of the worldwide osteoporosis market, Unigene is targeting
its initial efforts on developing calcitonin and PTH-based therapies.
Fortical(R), Unigene's nasal calcitonin product for the treatment of
postmenopausal osteoporosis, received FDA approval and was launched in
August 2005. Unigene has licensed the U.S. rights for Fortical to
Upsher-Smith Laboratories, worldwide rights for its oral PTH
technology to GlaxoSmithKline and worldwide rights for its calcitonin
manufacturing technology to Novartis. Unigene's patented oral delivery
technology has successfully delivered, in preclinical and/or clinical
trials, various peptides including calcitonin, PTH and insulin.
Unigene's patented manufacturing technology is designed to
cost-effectively produce peptides in quantities sufficient to support
their worldwide commercialization as oral or nasal therapeutics. For
more information about Unigene, call (973) 882-0860 or visit
www.unigene.com. For information about Fortical, visit
www.fortical.com.
Safe Harbor statements under the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains forward-looking
statements regarding us and our business, financial condition, results
of operations and prospects. Such forward-looking statements include
those which express plans, anticipation, intent, contingency, goals,
targets or future development and/or otherwise are not statements of
historical fact. We have based these forward-looking statements on our
current expectations and projections about future events and they are
subject to risks and uncertainties known and unknown which could cause
actual results and developments to differ materially from those
expressed or implied in such statements. These forward-looking
statements include statements about the following: general economic
and business conditions, our financial condition, competition, our
dependence on other companies to commercialize, manufacture and sell
products using our technologies, the ability of our products to gain
market acceptance and increase market share, the uncertainty of
results of animal and human testing, the risk of product liability and
liability for human trials, our dependence on patents and other
proprietary rights, dependence on key management officials, the
availability and cost of capital, the availability of qualified
personnel, changes in, or the failure to comply with, governmental
regulations, the failure to obtain regulatory approvals for our
products and other risk factors discussed in our Securities and
Exchange Commission filings. Words such as "anticipates," "expects,"
"intends," "plans," "predicts," "believes," "seeks," "estimates,"
"may," "will," "should," "would," "potential," "continue," and
variations of these words (or negatives of these words) or similar
expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In
addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections, or
other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including
any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance
and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that
are difficult to predict. Therefore, our actual results could differ
materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking
statements as a result of various risk factors.
CONTACT:
The Investor Relations Group
Daniel Berg / Dian Griesel, Ph.D.
212-825-3210
SOURCE: Unigene Laboratories, Inc.
|
