EXHIBIT 99.1

Discovery Laboratories and Acute Therapeutics Enter Into Agreement and Plan
of Merger

NEW YORK, March 10, 1998--Discovery Laboratories, Inc. (Discovery) (Nasdaq:
DSCO, DSCOU) announced today that it has entered into an Agreement and Plan of
Merger with its majority-owned subsidiary, Acute Therapeutics, Inc. (ATI) and
ATI Acquisition Corp. pursuant to which Discovery will acquire all outstanding
shares of common stock of ATI through a merger of ATI Acquisition Corp. into
ATI. The merger will result in 100% ownership by Discovery of ATI's product
portfolio and is expected to strengthen Discovery's management team and
consolidate development activities. Discovery's headquarters will be relocated
to ATI's Doylestown, Pa. location. Upon consummation of the merger, the
stockholders of ATI will be issued 3.91 shares of Discovery common stock in
exchange for each share of ATI common stock held by them prior to the
transaction (the exchange ratio). Certain outstanding ATI options for the
purchase of ATI common stock will be assumed by Discovery and will become
exercisable for shares of Discovery common stock on the basis of the exchange
ratio.

Discovery and ATI have also entered into a Management Agreement providing for
the management of Discovery by the ATI management team pending completion of the
merger. Pursuant to the Management Agreement, members of the ATI management team
have been granted options to purchase 126,500 shares of Discovery common stock,
subject to vesting.

The transaction is subject to approval by the stockholders of Discovery and ATI
and a number of other conditions, including the execution of employment
agreements by Robert J. Capetola, Ph.D. (currently Chief Executive Officer of
ATI) and other key executives of ATI and the election at Discovery's 1998 Annual
Meeting of a Board of Directors of Discovery consisting of six of Discovery's
current directors (three of whom are also directors of ATI) and four of ATI's
current directors. In addition, pursuant to their employment agreements with
Discovery, the ATI management team will be granted, in the aggregate, options to
purchase (i) 338,500 shares of Discovery common stock subject to vesting, (ii)
175,000 shares of Discovery common stock at such time as the market
capitalization of Discovery exceeds $75 million and (iii) 160,000 shares of
Discovery common stock upon consummation of a corporate partnering deal having a
total value of at least $20 million. The Discovery common stock to be issued to
ATI stockholders and the ATI options to be assumed in the merger, together with
the options to be issued to ATI management members pursuant to their employment
agreements with Discovery and the options granted pursuant to the Management
Agreement, will represent approximately 24% of Discovery's common stock on a
fully-diluted basis.

ATI's lead product in development is Surfaxin(TM) for the treatment of acute
respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Surfaxin(TM) is a novel, proprietary,
peptide-containing lung surfactant invented at The Scripps Research Institute.
The peptide is KL4, a 21 amino acid peptide modeled after the important SP-B
protein in the human surfactant system. Lung surfactants are protein-lipid
complexes that coat the airsacs of the lung and facilitate oxygen exchange with
blood. ARDS is an acute generalized inflammatory disease of the lung affecting
approximately 150,000 persons per year in the U.S. and has an associated
mortality rate of approximately 50%. As previously announced on February 9,
1998, ATI has completed its Phase 1B clinical trial of Surfaxin(TM) in ARDS.

Discovery Laboratories, Inc. is a New York City based development stage
pharmaceutical company that is clinically developing proprietary pharmaceuticals
to treat post-menopausal osteoporosis, cystic fibrosis and other diseases. ATI,
a Doylestown, Pa. company, concentrates its efforts on developing acute care
pharmaceuticals and is actively developing therapies for ARDS, meconium
aspiration syndrome and idiopathic respiratory distress syndrome. Discovery's
strategy is to accelerate and lower the risk of drug development by acquiring
and developing proprietary pharmaceuticals for which significant animal and
human testing has already been completed. In addition, Discovery seeks to
minimize the cost of drug development by outsourcing preclinical development and
manufacturing. More information about Discovery is available on the company's
web site at: www.discoverylabs.com

To the extent that statements in this press release are not strictly historical,
including statements as to future financial conditions, events conditioned on
stockholder or other approval, or otherwise as to future events, such statements
are forward-looking, and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements contain
in this release are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially from the statements made. Among the factors
which could affect the Company's actual results and could cause results to
differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements contained herein
are the risk that financial conditions may change, risks relating to the
progress of the Company's research and development and the development of
competing therapies and/or technologies by other companies. Those associated
risks and others are further 



described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact:

     Robert J. Capetola, Ph.D.
     Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
     Acute Therapeutics, Inc.
     215/794-3064

                or

     Steve H. Kanzer, CPA, Esq.
     Chairman
     Discovery Laboratories, Inc.
     212/554-4330

                or

     Dian Griesel, Ph.D.
     The Investor Relations Group, Inc.
     212/664-8489