N E W S   R E L E A S E

For information contact:
Joni Morford, Communicore
714/721-8081
jmorford@communicore.com


ANIKA THERAPEUTICS AND ORQUEST SIGN MANUFACTURING 
AGREEMENT FOR OSSIGEL 


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.....Woburn, Mass.....June 23, 1997.....Anika 
Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ Small Cap: ANIK) and Orquest, Inc. today 
announced the signing of a multi-year manufacturing agreement whereby Anika 
will produce Ossigel, an injectable material developed by Orquest for accelerating 
the healing of fractures.

Currently in preclinical animal studies, Ossigel is an injectable proprietary 
formulation of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) with a hyaluronic acid (HA) 
gel engineered to accelerate fracture healing.  Both bFGF and HA are well-
established materials found naturally in the body.  Delivered by a single injection 
into the site of a fresh fracture, Ossigel stimulates development of the fracture callus, 
an important event in the early stages of normal fracture healing.

Approximately 6 million bone fractures occur in the U.S. annually.  Orquest believes 
a significant portion of these fractures will derive improved clinical outcomes and 
economic cost savings from treatment with Ossigel.  Orquest plans to file an 
Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) application for Ossigel this year to conduct 
human clinical trials in the U.S.

"We are extremely impressed with Anika's extensive experience in manufacturing 
ultra pure, high quality, medical grade HA and their technical expertise in the field 
of HA," said Michael Sumner Estes, Ph.D., Orquest's president and chief executive 
officer.  "Anika has demonstrated the ability to fill syringes aseptically in large 
volumes and has developed a very efficient manufacturing process for highly 
viscous materials such as HA.  Our efforts to provide the market with a high quality 
product are enhanced through our partnership with Anika," he added.

"Broadening Anika's product pipeline has been one of our stated priorities this 
year," said J. Melville Engle, Anika's president and chief executive officer.  "Ossigel, 
which has had excellent preclinical results, offers yet another extremely promising 
market for our HA technology."

Orquest, Inc., a private orthobiologics company headquartered in Mountain View, 
California, was founded in 1994 to develop a portfolio of products for bone and 
cartilage regeneration.  Orquest is targeting the major growth segments in 
orthopedics: spine and trauma/sports medicine.  Ossigel joins Healos--a bone 
grafting material--in Orquest's line of materials for bone regeneration.

Anika Therapeutics, Inc. is a leading developer and manufacturer of technologically 
advanced hyaluronic acid products for surgical and therapeutic medical 
applications.  Anika has ISO 9001 approval for the manufacture of ORTHOVISC  
and AMVISC .  The company's commercial product portfolio includes: 
ORTHOVISC for the treatment of osteoarthritis; AMVISC to maintain eye shape 
and protect delicate tissues during ophthalmic surgery; and HYVISC  for the 
treatment of equine osteoarthritis.  Products under development include: INCERT  
for the prevention of surgical adhesions and HA oligosaccharides for the treatment 
of cancer.


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