Research Triangle Park, NC – November 14, 2003 –NOBEX announced today that it will reacquire all rights, intellectual property, data, and all other assets related to its modified insulin molecules for all routes of delivery that had been licensed to GSK or produced by GSK during the parties’ 17-month alliance. This transaction followed a decision by GSK to end the alliance based on internal business reasons.

The parties are engaged in a cooperative process to transition the R&D program to NOBEX, including ongoing studies that GSK will fund to completion.

NOBEX will get all of the research results from the collaboration that GSK largely funded, providing additional data to NOBEX that will assist in developing products, including new modified insulin molecules for several indications and non-oral routes of delivery for the treatment of diabetes.

“We have seen important advances in the technology and the drug development program during our period of work with GSK and remain confident of the commercial potential of our modified insulin products,” stated Dr. Christopher H. Price, President & CEO of NOBEX. “Although we are disappointed with GSK’s business decision not to pursue the insulin program with NOBEX, we are enthusiastic to resume our insulin program and to seek a new partner with strong interests in metabolic disease.”

On its own or with a another partner, NOBEX intends to resume research and development of potential insulin products based on its technology, including the lead HIM2 oral insulin drug that had been advanced into Phase II trials by NOBEX prior to the alliance with GSK.

About Oral Insulin
Insulin has been commercially available only in injectable forms since its introduction into medicine about 75 years ago. NOBEX has developed a modified insulin under its patented polymer technology that resists enzymatic degradation of insulin in the body and is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream after the patient takes an oral dose. The convenience of an oral insulin product would be of significant benefit to patients and may increase their compliance in taking insulin, so important to the long-term control of diabetes.

NOBEX oral insulin is absorbed across the intestinal wall and follows the same pathway as insulin normally released by the pancreas, entering the body by a blood vessel known as the portal vein and carried immediately to the liver. Insulin from the pancreas or from oral delivery arrives at the liver in a large pulse and may activate the liver to participate in the control of blood glucose. The properly activated liver is thought to stimulate a number of metabolic actions that could help reduce the complications of diabetes, such as vascular disease.

About Diabetes
The pancreas in the patient with type 1 diabetes has lost the ability to produce insulin. To control blood glucose, insulin must be administered several times per day. In type 2 patients, the pancreas can produce insulin. However as the disease progresses, it does not provide enough insulin at the proper time for effective control of blood glucose. The primary metabolic disorder in type 2 diabetes is insulin resistance, which is often treated with insulin sensitizing agents to help patients use more effectively the insulin their bodies naturally produce. If left untreated, a patient with diabetes can develop a number of debilitating medical complications in addition to the inability to control blood sugar. The estimated cost of diabetes and its complications to the U.S. economy is approaching $100 billion per year.

About NOBEX
NOBEX Corporation is a privately held drug product development company that specializes in medicinal chemistry applied to optimizing the delivery of therapeutic drugs. The company has advanced three products into clinical study, including the oral calcitonin Oratonin™ tablet for treating the pain of vertebral fractures, the APAZA compound, an oral tablet for inflammatory bowel disease, and insulin in an oral tablet for diabetes. NOBEX has several other products in preclinical development on its own and with partners or collaborators including Pfizer, Duke University, and the Mayo Clinic. For more information, visit www.nobexcorp.com.

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