Emisphere Technologies first-quarter net loss increases to $18.5 million

May 17 2010

Emisphere Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB:EMIS) today announced its financial results for the first quarter 2010. The Company will host a conference call to discuss financial results at 10:00 AM EDT this morning.

The live webcast of the conference call can be accessed through the company's web site at: www.emisphere.com. The live conference call dial-in number is: 1-888-819-8033 (United States and Canada) or 1-913-312-0660 (International). In addition, an archive of the webcast can be accessed through the same link; an audio replay of the call will be available following the conference call by calling 1-888-203-1112 (United States and Canada) or 1-719-457-0820 (International). The conference replay PIN is 6763914.

FIRST QUARTER 2010 FINANCIAL RESULTS

Emisphere reported a net loss of $18.5 million, or $0.44 cents per basic and diluted share for the three months ended March 31, 2010, including a $14.0 million non-cash charge related to the increase in the fair value of derivative instruments due to the change in stock price during the three months ended March 31, 2010. This compares with a net loss of $5.4 million, or $0.18 cents per basic and diluted share for same period last year.

Total operating expenses were $3.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2010; a decrease of approximately $1.6 million, or 35%, compared to $4.7 million for the same period last year. Total operating expenses include research and development costs of $0.6 million (a decrease of $1.3 million or 71% compared to the same period in 2009) and general and administrative expenses of $2.3 million (a decrease of $0.6 million or 20% compared to the same period last year).

Other non-operating expenses were $15.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2010; an increase of $14.7 million compared to $0.8 million for the same period last year due primarily to the $14.1 million increase in the change in fair value of derivative instruments.

LIQUIDITY

At March 31, 2010, Emisphere Technologies reported cash and restricted cash of $3.3 million, compared to $3.8 million at December 31, 2009. The Company has implemented aggressive cost controls to conserve its cash and better position the Company to realize the commercial promise of its Eligen^® Technology. With its lower cash burn rate, the Company anticipates that its existing capital resources, without implementing cost reductions, raising additional capital, or obtaining substantial cash inflows, will enable us to continue operations through approximately June 2010 or earlier if unforeseen events arise that negatively affect our liquidity.

Management believes there are reasonable financing alternatives potentially available to the Company that will enable it to meet its near term operating cash requirements. Please refer to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 for additional information.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENTS

Emisphere has a deep and varied pipeline that includes prescription, medical food and nutritional supplement product candidates in different stages of development.

• Oral Eligen^® B12

• During April 2010, the Company announced that interim data from an ongoing study demonstrated that its high-dose oral Eligen^® B12 (1000mcg) given to individuals with low B12 levels restores normal B12 serum concentrations. The study illustrates the potential of the Eligen^® Technology and strengthens the Company's belief that its high dose, oral Eligen^® B12 (1000mcg) formulation may offer a much needed medical food product. Oral Eligen^® B12 (1000 mcg) is planned to be available later in 2010.

• Oral Salmon Calcitonin

• During April 2010, we announced the publication of a research study entitled, "Investigation of the Direct Effect of Salmon Calcitonin on Human Osteoarthritic Chondrocytes," by Nordic Bioscience in the April 5, 2010 edition of the publication BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders. Oral salmon calcitonin, which uses Emisphere's proprietary Eligen^® Technology, is currently being studied in osteoarthritis and osteoporosis by Novartis Pharma AG and Nordic Bioscience. The study shows that treatment with pharmacological concentrations of calcitonin increases synthesis of both proteoglycan (proteins and sugars which interweave with collagen) and collagen type II -- the key components of articular cartilage. These findings provide evidence to substantiate the theory that calcitonin may exert a positive effect on joint health through its dual action of promoting both bone and cartilage formation.

• Oral PTH

• During April 2010, we announced that Novartis Pharma AG initiated a second Phase I trial for an oral PTH1-34 which uses Emisphere's Eligen^® Technology, and is in development for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. The study is a partially blinded, placebo controlled, active comparator study to explore the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in postmenopausal women after daily oral doses of PTH1-34. The study has two parts (A and B) and will enroll a total of approximately up to 120 postmenopausal women. The first patient was enrolled during April.
   

• Oral Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1)

• During January 2010, we announced that Novo Nordisk had initiated its first Phase I clinical trial with a long-acting oral GLP-1 analogue (NN9924). This milestone released a $2 million payment to Emisphere, whose proprietary Eligen^® Technology is used in the formulation of NN9924.

The Company is continuing with a number of pre-clinical programs in collaboration with other companies as well as projects on its own using the Eligen^® Technology to improve the oral absorption of selected molecules.