KemPharm Inc. (KMPH)

[clownsj]

North Liberty, IA and Las Vegas, NV – Sept. 4, 2013 – KemPharm, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of new, safer therapies to treat pain, today announced the advancement of a new pain therapy program, KP606, a first-in-class oral prodrug of oxycodone. KP606 adds to the Company's franchise of abuse-deterrent prodrugs, which includes KP201 (hydrocodone) and KP511 (hydromorphone).

KemPharm announced the discovery of KP606 at PAINWeek 2013, the nation's largest pain conference for frontline clinicians with an interest in pain management.

In preclinical studies, KP606 exhibited superior pharmacological characteristics that suggest an improved safety profile compared to currently marketed oxycodone products, possibly reducing or preventing symptoms of constipation and limiting abuse potential. KP606 also features tamper resistant properties that make it difficult to extract oxycodone from the prodrug, which is not active until cleaved in the body.

Travis C. Mickle, Ph.D., President and CEO of KemPharm, commented, "With the discovery of KP606, KemPharm now has the most complete – and advanced – pipeline of abuse-deterrent opioid prodrugs in development. Oxycodone, along with hydrocodone and hydromorphone, are not only the most prescribed opioid-based pain medications, but are three of the most prescribed drugs in the entire world. As we continue towards an NDA filing for KP201 in the second quarter of 2014, KemPharm's goal is to re-define the pain management market by developing a franchise of therapeutics that offer unique physicochemical and pharmacological attributes that may deliver additional patient benefits, including reduced potential for abuse and reduction or elimination of opioid-induced constipation."