<PAGE>
Medi-Ject Corporation
161 Cheshire Lane
Minneapolis, MN 55441
(612) 475-7700
Nasdaq: MEDJ
AT THE COMPANY: AT THE FINANCIAL RELATIONS BOARD:
Dr. Franklin Pass Larry Stein Mark Muehlfelt
Chairman and CEO General Inquiries Analyst Inquiries
(612) 475-7700 (312) 266-7800 (312) 266-7800
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MONDAY, JULY 17, 2000
MEDI-JECT CORPORATION AND PERMATEC HOLDING AG ANNOUNCE
AGREEMENT TO COMBINE DRUG DELIVERY BUSINESSES
MEDI-JECT CORPORATION TO BE RENAMED ANTARES PHARMA, INC.
-- Antares Pharma to Capitalize on Current Products and Distribution Channels
as well as Combine Device and Formulation Strengths to Create New Drug
Delivery Technologies --
Minneapolis, MN, July 17, 2000 - Medi-Ject Corporation (Nasdaq: MEDJ) today
announced that it has signed a Stock Purchase Agreement with Permatec Holding AG
("Permatec"), a privately held drug delivery company located in Basel,
Switzerland and three of Permatec's subsidiaries. Under the terms of the
agreement, Medi-Ject will acquire all of the outstanding stock of three Permatec
subsidiaries, Permatec Pharma AG (a Switzerland company), Permatec Technologie
AG (a Switzerland company) and Permatec NV (a Netherlands Antilles company), in
exchange for 2,900,000 shares of Medi-Ject common stock. Upon closing of the
transaction, Medi-Ject will be renamed Antares Pharma, Inc. ("Antares") and
Permatec will emerge as the majority shareholder of Antares, resulting in a
change of control.
Completion of the transaction, which is expected to occur in the third quarter,
is subject to various conditions, including approval by Medi-Ject's
shareholders.
Antares will continue to market needle-free jet injectors for use with insulin
and growth hormone in over 20 countries. Antares plans to introduce an estradiol
transdermal patch for hormone replacement therapy in Latin America.
-MORE-
<PAGE>
Medi-Ject Corporation
Page 2
Several product development agreements will remain in place, including a
recently announced agreement with BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for the
commercialization of testosterone and estrogen gels and patches. These products
could provide hormone replacement for men and women in the U.S. and selected
Asian countries. Antares will continue to support an agreement with Solvay
Pharmaceuticals of Belgium to provide a transdermal gel containing a combination
of estrogen and progestigen. The combined entities will continue testing of a
new needle-free injector design for the Organon division of Akzo Nobel.
The Antares research team will begin to look at sustained release formulations
of drugs given by injection. Medi-Ject believes that new injector designs
containing sustained release drugs could provide a market advantage and add life
cycle management for injected drug formulations.
"By combining skills in device engineering and pharmaceutical formulation
chemistry, diversifying our product portfolio and broadening our geographic
presence, Antares will provide an important new service to our customers,
pharmaceutical manufacturers," said Dr. Franklin Pass, Chairman and CEO of
Medi-Ject. "We are gaining the research and business experience of Dr. Jacques
Gonella and his colleagues who earlier founded a Swiss drug delivery company,
which formed the core of SkyePharma plc."
"As the major drug delivery companies move closer to vertical integration as
full-fledged pharmaceutical marketing entities, they create new space in what
today is a $20 billion market for drug delivery technologies," said Dr. Gonella,
current Chairman of Permatec. "We plan to seize this opportunity as we introduce
new products, execute additional pharmaceutical alliances and offer a broad
array of new technologies to the drug industry."
At closing four of the six current directors of Medi-Ject will resign and will
be replaced by four designees of Permatec, including Dr. Jacques Gonella. A
search for a new Chief Executive Officer has been commenced.
Any statements in this press release that are forward looking, including
statements relating to terms of a business combination, merger, market
opportunity, future product development, product sales, development and
licensing agreements, and research activities, are made pursuant to the Safe
Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties which may affect Medi-Ject's and the combined operations' business
and prospects, including changes in economic and market conditions, healthcare
legislation, changes in alliances with pharmaceutical companies, the development
of competing drug delivery systems, management of growth and other factors
discussed in the Medi-Ject's filings with the SEC. Investors are encouraged to
review Exhibit 99 to Medi-Ject's 10-K filed with the SEC and the risk factors in
the proxy statement.
-MORE-
<PAGE>
Medi-Ject Corporation
Page 3
Headquartered in Minneapolis, Medi-Ject is the leading marketer of needle-free,
jet injection, drug delivery systems. Medi-Ject manufactures hand-held injectors
that deposit pharmaceuticals, including insulin and growth hormone, under the
skin without a needle. Presently, these needle-free injection systems are
distributed in over 20 countries. Medi-Ject's common stock is traded on the
Nasdaq Small Cap Market under the symbol MEDJ.
Permatec, a transdermal and transmucosal drug delivery company, originally
founded in Argentina by Dr. Gonella, recently completed the consolidation of its
operations in Basel, Switzerland. Permatec has successfully developed patch and
gel technologies. One of its most advanced products, a combination gel for
hormone replacement therapy, was recently licensed to Solvay.
Information Concerning Participants
-----------------------------------
Medi-Ject, its directors, and certain of its executive officers may be deemed to
be participants in the solicitation of proxies from Medi-Ject's shareholders to
approve the transaction. Please refer to Medi-Ject's definitive proxy statement
for its 2000 Annual Meeting of Shareholders for a discussion of all interests,
direct or indirect, by security holdings or otherwise, of such persons in
Medi-Ject.
All Medi-Ject shareholders should read the proxy statement concerning the
transaction that Medi-Ject has filed with the SEC and will mail to its
shareholders. The proxy statement contains important information that should be
considered before making any decision regarding the transaction. The proxy
statement, as well as other filings containing information about Medi-Ject, may
be obtained without charge, on SEC's Website at (http://www.sec.gov). Copies of
the proxy statement and Medi-Ject's SEC filings that will be incorporated by
reference in the proxy statement will also be obtainable, without charge, from
Medi-Ject's corporate secretary. Information can be found on the Internet under
Medi-Ject's site on the World Wide Web at http://www.mediject.com and under
Permatec's site at http://www.permatec.com. For more information on Medi-Ject
via facsimile at no additional cost, simply dial 1-800-PRO-INFO and enter
Medi-Ject's ticker symbol MEDJ.
###
