DURECT Corporation Says Endo Pharmaceuticals Returns Rights to Chronogesic

CUPERTINO, Calif., April 7, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- DURECT Corporation (Nasdaq: DRRX - News) announced today that Endo Pharmaceuticals has stated that it intends to return the rights to CHRONOGESIC® licensed from DURECT Corporation for the U.S. and Canada. CHRONOGESIC is a product candidate consisting of a sufentanil containing implantable device intended for the treatment of moderate-to-severe chronic pain. As a result, the Development, Commercialization and Supply License Agreement between Endo and DURECT entered into in November 2002 will terminate. This return of CHRONOGESIC rights has no effect on DURECT and Endo's collaboration with respect to the sufentanil transdermal patch (TRANSDUR(TM)-Sufentanil) licensed by Endo from DURECT for the U.S. and Canada.

About DURECT Corporation

DURECT Corporation is an emerging specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development of pharmaceutical systems based on its proprietary drug delivery platform technologies focused on treating chronic and episodic diseases and conditions. The Company currently has multiple late-stage pharmaceutical products in development initially focused on significant unmet medical needs in pain management, with a number of research programs underway in a variety of other therapeutic areas. For more information, please visit http://www.durect.com.

NOTE: CHRONOGESIC® and TRANSDUR(TM) are trademarks of DURECT Corporation. Other referenced trademarks belong to their respective owners. TRANSDUR-Sufentanil is a drug candidate under development and has not been submitted or approved for commercialization by the US Food and Drug Administration or other health authorities.

DURECT Forward-Looking Statement

The statement in this press release regarding DURECT's emergence as a specialty pharmaceutical company and DURECT's product candidates are forward- looking statements involving risks and uncertainties that can cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, DURECT's (and that of its third party collaborators where applicable) abilities to obtain approvals from regulatory agencies with respect to its development activities and product candidates, design, enroll, conduct and complete clinical trials, complete the design, development, and manufacturing process development of the product candidates, consummate collaborative agreements relating to our product candidates and technologies, manufacture and commercialize the product candidates, obtain marketplace acceptance of the product candidates and manage and obtain capital to fund its growth, operations and expenses. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in DURECT's Form 10-K dated March 13, 2008 under the heading "Risk Factors."

Source: DURECT Corporation

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