TheraQuest To Present New Data on an Abuse Deterrent Strong Opioid at the World Congress on Pain

Blue Bell, PA – July 14, 2005 – PRNewswire – TheraQuest Biosciences, a development stage pain management company today announced that it is will be presenting positive results from three studies with TQ-1015, its potent abuse deterrent extended release opioid, at the World Congress on Pain in Sydney, Australia on August 24, 2005.

TQ-1015 is being developed for the treatment of chronic cancer and non-cancer pain. It is a strong, once-a-day sustained release opioid analgesic in a proprietary, abuse deterrent drug delivery system. It is exceedingly difficult to extract the active drug from the formulation using alcohol, a common recreational solvent. It also cannot be crushed for inhalation or to obtaining rapid euphoria.

Dr. Paul Sloan, Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Kentucky Hospital and a noted expert on pain management stated “Recent experience with some long-acting opioid pain relievers has shown that intentional crushing or extraction of the active ingredient from the formulation with alcohol by addicts and recreational drug users can destroy the timed-release mechanism and result in a rapid surge of drug into the bloodstream. Serious side-effects and death have been reported from such misuse.”

TQ-1015 is significantly more potent than current therapies and it has a novel pharmacologic profile, compared with other strong opioids. TQ-1015 will compete in the same market segment as MS Contin®, OxyContin® and Duragesic® .

Najib Babul, PharmD, President and Chief Executive Officer of TheraQuest stated, "TheraQuest is pleased to be presenting peer-review data from TQ-1015 at the World Congress on Pain, a premier scientific venue which brings together basic scientists, clinical scientists and clinicians interested in the field of pain.”

About TheraQuest Biosciences

TheraQuest Biosciences (www.theraquestinc.com) is a private, development-stage pain management company building a diversified portfolio of pharmaceutical products to address a critical area of unmet medical need. Despite their limitations, current treatments for acute and chronic pain yield worldwide sales in excess of $25 billion. The TheraQuest team has contributed to the development of numerous analgesics approved in the U.S. over the past 20 years. TheraQuest’s strategy is to use its expertise to identify, develop and commercialize product candidates with strong market potential that have lower development costs and reduced regulatory risk than new chemical entities. TheraQuest is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.

TheraQuest is funded in part by BioAdvance, the Biotechnology Greenhouse of Southeastern Pennsylvania and Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Additional information is available at www.theraquestinc.com.