Emisphere Technologies, Inc. has entered into a licensing agreement with Roche to develop oral formulations of undisclosed small molecule compounds approved for use in the field of bone-related diseases. The agreement follows successful pre-clinical studies, and a human feasibility study incorporating Emisphere's eligen delivery technology.

Under the terms of the agreement, Roche will pay Emisphere an initial up-front fee, and future milestones payments of up to $18.5 million for each product developed using the eligen technology. Emisphere will also receive royalties based upon product sales. Roche will fund all necessary preclinical, clinical and manufacturing costs for all products. There are no financial obligations going forward for Emisphere. Worldwide sales for products of this class of drugs are expected to be over $5 billion in 2004, Emisphere said in a release.

Michael M. Goldberg, chairman and chief executive officer, Emisphere Technologies, Inc., commented, "We are very pleased to add another premium company such as Roche to the list of partners that have licensed our technology. This is the seventh compound successfully delivered in humans with the eligen technology. This is our first license agreement for a small molecule drug that is not a peptide."

Emisphere's broad-based oral drug delivery technology platform, known as the eligen technology, is based on the use of proprietary, synthetic chemical compounds, known as Emisphere delivery agents, or "carriers." These molecules facilitate or enable the transport of the therapeutic macromolecules across biological membranes such as those of the gastrointestinal tract, and exert their desired pharmacological effect. Emisphere's eligen technology makes it possible to orally deliver a therapeutic molecule without altering its chemical form or biological integrity.