Recent Study Reveals Physicians Prefer Topical Delivery for Drug Delivery Technology, Such as a Transdermal Patch

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Jul 25, 2013, 12:20 ET

NEW YORK, July 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Alliqua, Inc. (OTCQB: ALQA), a wound management and drug delivery company, is making strides to take advantage of the $142 billion drug delivery market by launching a preclinical proof-of-principal study of an experimental hydrogel transdermal patch containing lidocaine. The global drug delivery market is expected to reach $224.2 billion by the year 2017. Additionally, the global wound dressing market is expected to reach $6 billion by 2017.

The United States and Europe are the two leading geographic markets for wound dressings, with the U.S. accounting for more than one-third of the worldwide market. The U.S. is also expected to hold into its position as the global leader in the wound dressing market, as the country is expected to haul in 34.6 percent of the global wound dressing market revenue share in 2017.

The demand for advanced dressings has increased in recent years due to innovative adoptions of interactive/bioactive and antimicrobial dressings, including hydrogels. Alliqua's hydrogels are manufactured through a carefully monitored process that ensures a high product quality. The characteristics of Alliqua's hydrogels include: painless adhesion to the human body, stability of form and composition, purity, reproducibility (manufacturing high quality product on a consistent basis), compatibility with active ingredients, and high water content. The drug delivery market is showing no signs of saturation, with major patent expiries, generic competition, tightening Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, and emerging drug delivery technologies continuing to drive momentum. Among the 15 drug delivery systems surveyed by Frost & Sullivan, it was revealed that physicians prefer topical delivery, either as a transdermal patch or topical gel/cream, and expressed willingness to switch their current mode of therapy to one available in these forms.

A new end-user survey of more than 220 physicians and 650 patients by Frost & Sullivan, the Drug Delivery Technology: End-User Preferences, Utilization and Perceptions analysis (http://www.lifesciences.frost.com), finds that regardless of disease area, physicians select drug delivery methods that drive consistent patient compliance and effective outcomes.

James Saperstein, chief executive officer of Alliqua Biomedical, has stated the lidocaine patch development program is just Alliqua's first step towards building a portfolio that leverages the company's hydrogel platform. The lidocaine hydrogel patches will be developed with the intent to treat localized acute pain, including post-operative pain, back pain, and pain associated with sport injuries and arthritis. Alliqua says results from this preclinical proof-of-principle study will be readily available later in the third quarter.

In other recent news, Alliqua announced last week that the results from a post-marketing study on their SilverSeal dressing displayed proof the dressing was shown to have a lower incidence of incision complications compared to standard petroleum-based dressing. To read recent press releases issued by Alliqua, Inc., please go to:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/alliqua-initiates-proof-principle-study-113000849.html

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/alliquas-silverseal-dressing-shown-improve-120000465.html

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/alliqua-raises-3-million-2nd-120000325.html

About Alliqua, Inc.

Alliqua is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development, manufacturing, and distribution of proprietary transdermal wound care and drug delivery technologies. Alliqua's leading technology platform produces hydrogels, a 3-dimensional cross-linked network of water soluble polymers capable of numerous chemical configurations.

Alliqua currently markets its new line of 510(k) FDA-approved hydrogel products for wound care under the SilverSeal^® brand. Alliqua's electron beam production process, located at its 16,000 square foot GMP manufacturing facility in Langhorne PA, allows Alliqua to aggressively develop and custom manufacture a wide variety of hydrogels. Alliqua's hydrogels can be customized for various transdermal applications to address market opportunities in the treatment of wounds as well as the delivery of numerous drugs or other agents for pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Additionally, Alliqua's drug delivery platform, in combination with certain active pharmaceutical ingredients, can provide pharmaceutical companies with a transdermal technology to enhance patient compliance and potentially extend the patent life of valuable drug franchises.

For additional information, please visit http://www.alliqua.com. To receive future press releases via email, please visit: http://ir.stockpr.com/alliqua/email-alerts.

Any statements contained in this press release regarding our ongoing research and development and the results attained by us to-date have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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