Inspire Appoints Andrew Koven as Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative and Legal Officer

Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISPH) announced today it will name Andrew I. Koven to the newly created position of Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative and Legal Officer, effective May 10, 2010.

"I am pleased to announce the addition of Andrew to our experienced senior management team,” stated Adrian Adams, President and CEO of Inspire. "Andrew is an accomplished business and legal professional with more than 16 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including extensive expertise in corporate development and licensing ("CD&L”), Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC”) reporting, litigation, intellectual property management, compliance and corporate governance. His breadth of experience and strong leadership skills will be valuable to Inspire as we proceed toward the execution of our focused initiatives to build long-term shareholder value and sustainable success.”

In his role, Mr. Koven will be responsible for the legal, intellectual property, CD&L and compliance departments and will report directly to Mr. Adams.

Mr. Koven, age 52, has served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Sepracor Inc. ("Sepracor”) since 2007. Mr. Koven has been responsible for the company’s legal and government affairs and compliance departments and the corporate secretarial function. During his time at Sepracor, Mr. Koven has been significantly involved with all CD&L and merger and acquisition activities and managed intellectual property, employment, regulatory, corporate governance, litigation, compliance, commercial transactions and sales and marketing policies and procedures. Prior to Sepracor, Mr. Koven served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Kos Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Kos”) from 2003 through 2007. During this time he was responsible for the legal, compliance and quality assurance departments and was instrumental in all CD&L activities, including the acquisition of Kos by Abbott Laboratories at the end of 2006. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Lavipharm Corporation from 2000 to 2003 and held positions of increasing responsibility at Warner-Lambert Company as Assistant General Counsel, Pharmaceuticals N.A. and Assistant General Counsel, Consumer Healthcare N.A. from 1993 to 2000. Mr. Koven also previously served as Counsel, Corporate and Investment Division for the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States and as a Corporate Associate in the law firm of Cahill Gordon & Reindell in New York City. Mr. Koven received a B.A. in Political Science from Dalhousie University and a LL.B. from Dalhousie University Law School in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and a LL.M. from Columbia University Law School in New York City.

About Inspire

Inspire is a biopharmaceutical company focused on researching, developing and commercializing prescription pharmaceutical products for ophthalmic and pulmonary diseases. Inspire’s goal is to build and commercialize a sustainable portfolio of innovative new products based on its technical, scientific and commercial expertise. The most advanced compounds in Inspire’s clinical pipeline are denufosol tetrasodium for cystic fibrosis and PROLACRIA^™ (diquafosol tetrasodium ophthalmic solution) 2% for dry eye, which are both in Phase 3 development, and AZASITE^® (azithromycin ophthalmic solution) 1% for blepharitis, which is in Phase 2 development. Inspire receives revenues related to the promotion of AZASITE for bacterial conjunctivitis, the co-promotion of ELESTAT^® (epinastine HCl ophthalmic solution) 0.05% for allergic conjunctivitis and royalties based on net sales of RESTASIS^® (cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion) 0.05% for dry eye. 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. 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, 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.