INSPIRE AND FAES FARMA ANNOUNCE LICENSING AGREEMENT FOR NEW ORAL ANTIHISTAMINE TO TARGET ALLERGY MARKET IN UNITED STATES AND CANADA

For Immediate Release

INSPIRE AND FAES FARMA ANNOUNCE LICENSING AGREEMENT FOR NEW ORAL ANTIHISTAMINE TO TARGET ALLERGY MARKET IN UNITED STATES AND CANADA

- Inspire Expands Allergy Product Portfolio with Phase 3 Compound -
- Inspire Will Host Conference Call on November 1 at 10:00 am ET -

DURHAM, NC -- November 1, 2006 -- Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISPH) and FAES Farma, S.A. (IBEX: FAE) announced today the signing of a licensing agreement for the U.S. and Canadian development and commercialization of bilastine, a Phase 3 oral antihistamine compound for the treatment or prevention of allergic rhinitis, a condition affecting approximately 40 million people in the United States.

Under the terms of the agreement, Inspire has acquired exclusive rights to further develop and commercialize oral formulations of bilastine in the United States and Canada, as well as the exclusive right to develop and commercialize the ocular formulation in various markets worldwide. The agreement provides that Inspire will pay FAES an upfront license fee of $7 million and up to an additional $82 million of payments, contingent upon achievement of various development, regulatory and sales milestones. Inspire will also pay a royalty of 14-16% on net sales of the oral formulations of bilastine in the United States and Canada, if approved by regulatory authorities.

Christy L. Shaffer, Ph.D., President and CEO of Inspire, commented, "Our collaboration with FAES represents an ideal strategic opportunity for Inspire. Bilastine expands our allergy franchise and will leverage our clinical development expertise and historical success of our commercial team. We have the opportunity to develop and commercialize multiple formulations of the compound for oral and ocular uses. We expect that bilastine can generate significant near-term revenues and bridge to the commercialization of other compounds in our pipeline. Based on the clinical profile to date, we believe that the oral formulations of bilastine, if approved by regulatory authorities, could generate more than $200 million dollars in peak sales in the $3 billion annual oral antihistamine market in the United States."

Dr. Francisco Quintanilla, Managing Director of FAES Farma, commented, "We are pleased to establish this partnership with Inspire, which will enable us to leverage the global opportunity for bilastine, an important compound that came from our internal research and development efforts. The allergy market in the United States represents a large and attractive revenue opportun