Inspire Stockholders Approve Exchange of Preferred Stock Related to Warburg Pincus Investment

Business Wire, Nov 1, 2007

DURHAM, N.C. -- Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISPH) announced today the results from its Special Meeting of Stockholders, held on October 31, 2007. The Company's stockholders approved the proposal to exchange 140,186 shares of Series A Exchangeable Preferred Stock, issued and sold to the Warburg Pincus Private Equity IX Fund in July 2007, into 14,018,600 shares of common stock.

The Company now has 56,439,001 shares of common stock outstanding and no shares of preferred stock outstanding, as of October 31, 2007. The Company is expected to file a registration statement to register the new shares of common stock with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission no later than 30 days following the exchange.

About Inspire

Inspire is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing prescription pharmaceutical products in disease areas with significant commercial potential and unmet medical needs. Inspire employs a U.S. sales force for the promotion of AzaSite([TM]) (azithromycin ophthalmic solution) 1% for bacterial conjunctivitis, Elestat([R]) (epinastine HCl ophthalmic solution) 0.05% for allergic conjunctivitis and Restasis([R]) (cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion) 0.05% for dry eye. Inspire is focused on the therapeutic areas of ophthalmology and respiratory/allergy, and is developing products for dry eye, cystic fibrosis, allergic rhinitis and glaucoma. Elestat and Restasis are registered trademarks owned by Allergan, Inc. AzaSite is a trademark owned by InSite Vision Incorporated. For more information, visit www.inspirepharm.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

The forward-looking statements in this news release relating to management's expectations and beliefs are based on preliminary information and management assumptions. Specifically, no assurances can be made with respect to the timing of filing a registration statement to register the common shares held by Warburg Pincus. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a wide range of risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ in material respects, including those relating to product development, revenue, expense and earnings expectations, the seasonality of Elestat, intellectual property rights, adverse litigation developments, adverse developments in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation, competitive products, results and timing of clinical trials, success of marketing efforts, the need for additional research and testing, delays in manufacturing, funding, and the timing and content of decisions made by regulatory authorities, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Further information regarding factors that could affect Inspire's results is included in Inspire's filings with the SEC. Inspire undertakes no obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.