InKine Announces FDA Publication of Science Backgrounder.

Business Editors/Medical Writers

InKine Pharmaceutical Company, Inc. (Nasdaq: INKP) announced today that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) placed a Science Backgrounder on the FDA web page (www.fda.gov/cder) clarifying several items in the FDA's letter published on Visicol(TM) - the Company's purgative product used for adult colonoscopy - in the June 27, 2002 New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

The web site publication followed a meeting among InKine officers and legal counsel, an Associate Commissioner of FDA, FDA's Deputy Chief Counsel and several other senior FDA officials. The meeting was in response to InKine's concern that several key facts had been misstated or omitted from the FDA's letter.

The initial letter, authored by three FDA staff members, describes the possible risks of seizure associated with the administration of Visicol and other purgative products including polyethylene glycol (PEG). A second letter from senior physicians from InKine refutes the premise that the risk of seizure may be greater with Visicol than with other purgative products. This second letter was included in the online NEJM of June 27. The letter stated that to date, the incident rate of seizures associated with Visicol use has been .003% and that all purgative products, including PEG products, have a very small but well documented risk of seizure and other neurological adverse events that are most likely due to hyponatremia (low blood sodium).

There were several critical omissions in the FDA authored letter including the fact that to date over 210,000 patients have received Visicol safely and no new seizures have occurred since August 2001. Also, relevant contributing factors were omitted in 3 of 4 cases. These factors include the presence of hypoparathyroidism, strenuous exercise during hot weather, and the daily use of a PEG containing laxative, which independently has been reported to be associated with seizures. Additionally, no presumed mechanism for purgative products was discussed. Because all patients who had seizures following the use of Visicol had marked hyponatremia, and hyponatremia is a well-known cause of seizures, InKine believes that hyponatremia was the primary cause of seizures in these patients.

The FDA Science Backgrounder discussed risk factors in several of the patients with seizures after taking Visicol and also acknowledged that FDA was aware of published reports of seizures in patients who had taken over-the-counter sodium phosphate products.

Additionally, due to an administrative oversight at the NEJM, InKine was not notified of the original letter until 24 hours prior to the web page publishing deadline and long past the print publishing deadline. Officials at the NEJM apologized to InKine and have agreed to publish our response in the July 25 issue of the print edition of the NEJM.

About InKine Pharmaceutical

InKine Pharmaceutical Company, Inc. is a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company focused on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. The Company's development strategy is to acquire late-stage drug candidates with short time lines to commercialization. Support of early-stage product opportunities comes through its university-based sponsored research. The Company's first product, Visicol(TM) is the first and only tablet purgative preparation indicated for bowel cleansing prior to colonoscopy. InKine's portfolio also includes three late-stage product candidates, IBStat(TM) in development for the treatment of spasm in the colon, Hematrol(TM), in Phase III trials for the treatment of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and Colirest(TM), in pivotal clinical trials for the treatment of Crohn's disease and completed Phase II trials for the treatment of ulcerative colitis. In addition, the Company is developing preclinical compounds from its two platform technologies, including Angiocidin(TM), a potent and specific angiogenesis inhibitor for potential use in cancer patients. For further information, please visit InKine on their web site http://www.inkine.com.

In addition to historical facts or statement of current condition, this press release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements provide InKine's current expectations or forecasts of future events. These may include statements regarding anticipated scientific progress on its research programs, development of potential pharmaceutical products, interpretation of clinical results, prospects for regulatory approval, manufacturing development and capabilities, market prospects for its products, sales and earnings projections, and other statements regarding matters that are not historical facts. You may identify some of these forward-looking statements by the use of words in the statements such as "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe" or other words and terms of similar meaning. InKine's performance and financial results could differ materially from those reflected in these forward-looking statements due to general financial, economic, regulatory and political conditions affecting the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries as well as more specific risks and uncertainties such as those set forth in its reports on Form 10-Q and 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Given these risks and uncertainties, any or all of these forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect. Therefore, you should not rely on any such factors or forward-looking statements. Furthermore, InKine does not intend (and it is not obligated) to update publicly any forward-looking statements. This discussion is permitted by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.