InKine Pharmaceutical Announces Issuance of Fc Receptor Gene Therapy Patent.

BLUE BELL, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 27, 1998--InKine Pharmaceutical Company, Inc., (NASDAQ: INKP) today announced that Dr. Alan D. Schreiber's patent covering Fc receptor and Syk kinase gene therapy has issued (patent No. 5,821,071 titled "Methods of Stimulating Phagocytosis").

This patent represents the fourth patent in the gene therapy series derived from Dr. Schreiber's technology. In 1997, two patents issued describing the DNA and Fc receptors that can be used for therapy. In July 1998, an additional patent issued covering the use of Fc receptor gene therapy in the lung. These inventions derive from the observation that cells not normally expressing Fc receptors can be made to phagocytose antibody coated cells and immune complexes following introduction of a gene for an appropriate Fc receptor. The current patent results from Dr. Schreiber's observation that introduction of the Syk kinase gene enhances Fc receptor mediated phagocytosis.

"The gene therapy patents provide us exclusive coverage for the use of the Fc receptor and the Syk kinase genes for therapeutic applications. In pre-clinical experiments, rodents that had been transfected with the Fc receptor gene delivered directly into the lung exhibited significantly enhanced clearance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria by the pulmonary cells", said Taffy J. Williams, Ph.D., President and COO of InKine. "In other experiments, enhanced clearance of immune complexes by the liver was observed when the genes were delivered directly to the liver. These results suggest that Fc and/or Syk kinase gene therapy may have therapeutic benefit in the treatment of difficult infections or possibly in the removal of toxic immune complexes in autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and Lupus".

Dr. Schreiber is a professor of Medicine and Assistant Dean of Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and is an authority in the field of macrophage regulation and function at the molecular level. InKine has licensed the rights to all U.S. and foreign patent applications relating to the Fc receptor technology, and is currently engaged in the preclinical development of these molecules.

InKine Pharmaceutical Company, Inc. is a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company with two late-stage clinical compounds: a purgative product for colonoscopies and other procedures and uses; and a steroid molecule for treatment of ITP. The Company is focused on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases, and has the additional strategy of acquiring late-stage drug candidates with short time lines to commercialization. Support of early-stage product opportunities comes through its university-based sponsored research agreements.

This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Such statements reflect management's current views and are based on certain assumptions. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated as a result of a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties discussed under Item I "Other Factors to be Considered" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-KSB for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1998, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. ###