FAIRFIELD, N.J., Jul 10, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) ----Warren P. Levy, Ph.D., CEO and President of Unigene Laboratories, Inc. (OTCBB: UGNE, http://www.unigene.com), a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the manufacturing and oral delivery of large-market peptide drugs, recently contributed a by-lined story in two leading pharmaceutical publications. The article, which highlights the importance of peptides in pharmaceutical research as well as the potential value of the company's proprietary technologies, appeared in Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), the most widely read biotechnology publication in the world, and Pharmaceutical Formulation & Quality Magazine (PFQ), a health care journal with national circulation .

In the July 2008 article, titled "Focusing on the Task of Reinventing Peptide Drugs; Unigene Has Introduced an Enzyme-Based Assay for the Discovery of Amidated Peptides," Dr. Levy discussed the importance of peptides, and small proteins, which regulate many important metabolic processes through their roles as hormones, neurotransmitters, growth factors, enzymes, and structural components of cells. The articles note how in addition to the discovery, and testing of peptides in the clinic, developers will need to address the problems of achieving adequate scale in the manufacturing process and enabling the oral delivery of peptides.

According to Dr. Levy, Unigene's proprietary technology can make the oral delivery of peptide drugs a viable commercial opportunity. In the article, he comments on the company's development of a new enzyme-based assay for the discovery of amidated peptides, which he believes should help identify low-concentration peptide hormones and ultimately enable the discovery of novel, biologically active peptides suitable for pharmaceutical development.

"Unigene's technologies may enable the introduction of several oral peptide hormone drugs for administration in chronic osteoporosis and diabetes," says Dr. Levy. "While certain individual development projects are early stage, the trend is positive and the possibilities are plentiful. There has never been a more exciting time to be involved in peptide pharmaceutical development. Oral delivery methods have changed the paradigm for peptide drugs irrevocably--and for the better."

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. Fortical(R), Unigene's nasal calcitonin product for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis, received FDA approval and was launched in August 2005. Unigene has licensed the U.S. rights for Fortical to Upsher-Smith Laboratories, worldwide rights for its oral PTH technology to GlaxoSmithKline and worldwide rights for its calcitonin manufacturing technology to Novartis. 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. For more information about Unigene, call (973) 882-0860 or visit www.unigene.com. For information about Fortical, visit www.fortical.com.

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SOURCE: Unigene Laboratories, Inc.

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