Exhibit 99.1
[LOGO] NEWS
Unigene Laboratories, Inc. Investor Contact:
110 Little Falls Road The Investor Relations Group
Fairfield, NJ 07004 Lisa Lindberg/Dian Griesel, Ph.D.
www.unigene.com Phone: 212-825-3210
Email: TheProTeam@aol.com
For Immediate Release
UNIGENE ENTERS INTO U.S. LICENSE AGREEMENT WITH UPSHER-SMITH
LABORATORIES FOR NASAL CALCITONIN PRODUCT FOR OSTEOPOROSIS
Fairfield, NJ- December 2, 2002 - Unigene Laboratories, Inc. (OTCBB:UGNE) and
Upsher-Smith Laboratories, Inc. today announced the signing of a $10 million
exclusive U.S. licensing agreement to market Unigene's patented nasal
formulation of calcitonin for the treatment of osteoporosis.
Under the terms of the agreement, Unigene has received an up-front payment of $3
million from Upsher-Smith and will be eligible to receive milestone payments and
royalty payments on product sales. Unigene will be responsible for manufacturing
the product at its Boonton, New Jersey facility and will sell finished
calcitonin product to Upsher-Smith. Upsher-Smith will package the product and
will distribute it nationwide.
This is Unigene's second license agreement in the field of osteoporosis. In
April 2002, Unigene announced a $150 million license agreement with
GlaxoSmithKline for the development of an oral parathyroid hormone (PTH)
product.
"Unigene has developed an important calcitonin product for the treatment of
osteoporosis, which affects millions of Americans," said Ian Troup, President
and COO of Upsher-Smith Laboratories. "We look forward to bringing our expertise
in the marketing and distribution of high-quality pharmaceuticals to our
partnership with Unigene - and we look forward to bringing Unigene's calcitonin
therapy to physicians and patients."
"We are very pleased to be working with Upsher-Smith, an experienced
pharmaceutical company with great capabilities in marketing branded generics,"
commented Dr. Warren P. Levy, President and CEO of Unigene. "We believe that the
enthusiasm and commercialization strategies of Upsher-Smith for this product
will provide an outstanding opportunity for marketing this product. Furthermore,
the agreement provides another important validation for our patented
manufacturing and delivery technologies and their broad applicability to
therapeutic peptides."
About Upsher-Smith Laboratories
Founded in 1919, Upsher-Smith Laboratories, Inc. is a rapidly growing,
fully-integrated pharmaceutical company and a recognized leader in the sales and
marketing of cardiovascular and dermatological products. The company develops,
manufactures and markets prescription pharmaceutical products and is actively
involved in licensing innovative compounds that are currently in clinical
development. For more information about Upsher-Smith Laboratories, call
1.800.328.3344 or visit www.upsher-smith.com.
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. 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.
Safe Harbor statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995: This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements are
based upon Unigene Laboratories, Inc.'s management's current expectations,
estimates, beliefs, assumptions, and projections about Unigene's business and
industry. Words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans,"
"predicts," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "may," "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. These risks
and uncertainties include the risks associated with the effect of changing
economic conditions, trends in the products markets, variations in Unigene's
cash flow, market acceptance risks, technical development risks and other risk
factors detailed in Unigene's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.