InKine Announces Acceptance of Three Poster Presentations at the American College of Gastroenterology 68th Annual Scientific Meeting.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

BLUE BELL, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 22, 2003

InKine Pharmaceutical Company, Inc. (Nasdaq: INKP) today announced that three abstracts involving three InKine products have been accepted for presentation as posters at the 68th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology, to be held at the Baltimore Convention Center from October 10 - 15, 2003.

One poster (No. 88 at the meeting) will be presented on October 12 by Martin Rose, M.D., J.D., InKine's Executive Vice President for Research and Development. The poster describes the results of a randomized study in healthy volunteers of the laxative effects of one week of therapy of Visicol(R) tablets compared to Miralax(R), the leading prescription laxative indicated for treatment of occasional constipation. In this study, the laxative effects of Visicol(R) were significantly greater and significantly more prompt than those of Miralax(R), and electrolyte changes from baseline were similar for both products at the end of therapy. InKine is now conducting a trial of up to 28 days of therapy using Visicol(R) tablets to treat patients with idiopathic constipation or constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

"We are pleased that the American College of Gastroenterology has accepted

for poster presentation three important developments in InKine's product portfolio. Our franchise product, Visicol(R), continues to gain acceptance in the colonoscopy marketplace. Most recent weekly unaudited prescription data once again demonstrated new all-time-highs in terms of both prescriptions filled and ethical market share. The results of the study of Visicol(R) for use as a laxative along with our current ongoing Phase IV clinical trial will be important in extending the Visicol(R) franchise beyond use in preparation for a diagnostic procedure into possible repeated use as a therapeutic agent," said Leonard S. Jacob, M.D., Ph.D, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of InKine.

Another poster (No. 319) will be presented on October 13 by Adam Elfant, M.D., Director of Therapeutic Endoscopy and Associate Professor of Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. This poster describes the results of Dr. Elfant's study of InKine's marketed product IB-Stat(R) (hyoscyamine oral spray), which was given to patients prior to endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), a diagnostic and therapeutic invasive procedure that is performed by gastroenterologists. During ERCP, the physician will often give the patient an intravenous dose of glucagon to relax the gut to facilitate the cannulation of the ampulla of Vater, which contains the narrow mouth of the pancreatic and bile ducts. IB-Stat(R) is far less expensive than glucagon and has no effect on blood sugar, while glucagon may raise blood sugar to dangerous levels in diabetics. In this study, use of IB-Stat(R) prior to ERCP was associated with a very high rate of successful cannulation without use of glucagon.

The third poster (No. 527) will be presented on October 14 by Alan D. Schreiber, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Assistant Dean for Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. This poster concerns the favorable safety profile of Colirest(TM) (medroxyprogesterone acetate), InKine's oral glucocorticoid analog that it is developing for the treatment of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Colirest(TM) has shown glucocorticoid-like, beneficial, anti-inflammatory effects without many of the frequent and serious side effects commonly associated with glucocorticoids, such as increased incidence of life-threatening infections. These infections are the result of various immunosuppressive effects of glucocorticoids, including an immediate and striking reduction in the number of circulating lymphocytes. Dr. Schreiber analyzed the effects of Colirest(TM) on the lymphocytes and other white blood cells of patients enrolled in InKine's studies. In the largest study, he found a statistically significant rapid increase in lymphocyte count in patients treated with Colirest(TM). This increase, generally sustained over 6 weeks of therapy, contrasts dramatically with the marked decrease in lymphocyte count typically observed with glucocorticoid therapy. Results in the two smaller studies were similar in that Colirest(TM) increased rather than decreased the lymphocyte count. These results support Dr. Schreiber's earlier observations; namely, that Colirest(TM) has glucocorticoid-like anti-inflammatory effects but lacks many of the treatment limiting toxicities of glucocorticoids.

"The acceptance of posters for three different InKine products at this prestigious meeting is an indication of the vibrancy of InKine's clinical development programs in gastroenterology and the strong commercial potential of these products, two of which are already marketed and one of which is in late stage development," said Dr. Rose.

About InKine Pharmaceutical

InKine Pharmaceutical Company, Inc. is a publicly traded specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal disorders. The Company's development strategy is to acquire late-stage drug candidates with short timelines to commercialization. The Company's first product, Visicol(R) is the only tablet purgative preparation indicated for bowel cleansing prior to colonoscopy. InKine's second product, IB-Stat(R), is a novel oral hyoscyamine spray for the treatment of a variety of indications. Additionally, the Company has other development programs such as Colirest(TM), which is in clinical trials for the treatment of Crohn's disease and completed Phase II trials for the treatment of ulcerative colitis. For further information, please visit InKine on its web site http://www.inkine.com.

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