YORK, Pa., April 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Unilife Corporation ("Unilife" or "Company") (NASDAQ: UNIS, ASX: UNS) today issued a response on behalf of its shareholders in relation to a series of malicious blogs containing false and misleading information published over recent months by short sellers on the Seeking Alpha website.

Unilife has requested that the SEC investigate these short sellers and their associates for stock manipulation and illicit gains. Unilife categorically refutes any allegations of wrong-doing by the Company, its directors, officers and management. In particular, Unilife would like to address the following:

Most of these allegations relate to a wrongful termination lawsuit by a former employee who was terminated "for cause," and the related SEC review of the matter, which Unilife first disclosed more than 18 months ago and has repeated in subsequent regulatory filings and earnings calls.

Unilife has refuted these allegations, declined a settlement offer by the plaintiff, and expects to prevail should the case proceed to trial. Unilife has co-operated fully with the SEC in its review, provided extensive information, and responded to all questions.  Unilife does not believe that there are any grounds for any action to be taken against the Company.

Unilife has never paid anyone to publish articles about it. No officer has ever sold Unilife stock since the Company listed on NASDAQ in 2010, with the CEO and COO having purchased in excess of $4 million in Unilife stock in recent years. The CFO's departure was not due to a resignation but part of a long-term succession plan. Mr. Shortall has never been a director or officer of a Company that has failed, or gone bankrupt. Unilife has successfully been through numerous due diligence processes conducted by multiple global pharmaceutical customers, investors, analysts, financial auditors and regulatory bodies. By way of example, Unilife last month completed a $60 million non-dilutive debt financing with OrbiMed, the world's largest healthcare-dedicated investor. OrbiMed, together with its outside experts and advisors, undertook extensive due diligence over several months into all aspects of the Unilife business including its products, staff, patents, contracts and commercial pipeline. 

Unilife encourages the SEC to act quickly to address these illegal actions by the relevant short sellers and their associates.  Unilife's team, which is now more than 190 strong and consisting of some of the most highly qualified industry experts, will continue to drive the business, serve existing and new customers and build shareholder value.

About Unilife Corporation
Unilife Corporation (NASDAQ: UNIS / ASX: UNS) is a U.S. based developer and commercial supplier of injectable drug delivery systems. Unilife's broad portfolio of proprietary technologies includes prefilled syringes with automatic needle retraction, drug reconstitution delivery systems, auto-injectors, wearable injectors, ocular delivery systems and novel systems. Each of these innovative and highly differentiated platforms can be customized to address specific customer, drug and patient requirements. Unilife's global headquarters and manufacturing facilities are located in York, PA. For more information, please visit www.unilife.com or download the Unilife IRapp on your iPhone, iPad or Android device.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements that address operating performance, events or developments that we expect or anticipate will occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to our management. Our management believes that these forward-looking statements are reasonable as and when made. However, you should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements because such statements speak only as of the date when made. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. In addition, forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, events and developments to differ materially from our historical experience and our present expectations or projections. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those described in "Item 1A. Risk Factors" and elsewhere in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and those described from time to time in other reports which we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

General: UNIS-G

SOURCE Unilife Corporation