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Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Organon And Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Finalize Mircette(R) Settlement And Acquisition

Published: Dec 02, 2005

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., Dec. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Barr") , Organon USA Inc. and Organon (Ireland) Ltd. ("Organon"), business units of Akzo Nobel NV , and Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Savient") today announced that Barr and its subsidiaries have finalized an agreement to acquire the exclusive rights to Organon's Mircette(R) (Desogestrel/Ethinyl Estradiol) oral contraceptive product. The agreement terminates the ongoing patent litigation regarding Barr's generic version of Mircette(R), which the Company markets under the trade name Kariva(R).

On June 30, 2005, Barr and Organon filed the Letter of Intent with the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") pursuant to the Hart Scott Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. On August 1, 2005, the FTC issued a second request for information regarding the proposed transaction. On November 16, 2005, the FTC's review period, which had been voluntarily extended by Barr and Organon, expired without the FTC having initiated any action to stop the acquisition.

Barr's Duramed Pharmaceuticals subsidiary will promote Mircette(R) to female healthcare practitioners utilizing its recently expanded Specialty Sales Force.

Mircette(R) is indicated for the prevention of pregnancy in women who elect to use oral contraceptives as a method of contraception. Mircette(R) is available in a 28-tablet regimen that represents a combination of desogestrel/ethinyl estradiol and ethinyl estradiol.

About Barr

Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a holding company, whose principal subsidiaries, Barr Laboratories, Inc. and Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Inc., develop, manufacture and market generic and proprietary pharmaceuticals. A research-intensive pharmaceutical company, Barr currently manufactures and markets more than 100 different dosage forms and strengths of over 70 different generic pharmaceutical products, including 22 oral contraceptive products, representing the largest category of the Company's generic portfolio, and 17 proprietary pharmaceutical products, largely concentrated in the female healthcare arena.

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for the historical information contained herein, the statements made in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements can be identified by their use of words such as "expects," "plans," "projects," "will," "may," "anticipates," "believes," "should," "intends," "estimates" and other words of similar meaning. Because such statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that cannot be predicted or quantified, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements depending upon a number of factors affecting the Company's business. These factors include, among others: the difficulty in predicting the timing and outcome of legal proceedings, including patent-related matters such as patent challenge settlements and patent infringement cases; the outcome of litigation arising from challenging the validity or non-infringement of patents covering our products; the difficulty of predicting the timing of FDA approvals; court and FDA decisions on exclusivity periods; the ability of competitors to extend exclusivity periods for their products; our ability to complete product development activities in the timeframes and for the costs we expect; market and customer acceptance and demand for our pharmaceutical products; our dependence on revenues from significant customers; reimbursement policies of third party payors; our dependence on revenues from significant products; the use of estimates in the preparation of our financial statements; the impact of competitive products and pricing on products, including the launch of authorized generics; the ability to launch new products in the timeframes we expect; the availability of raw materials; the availability of any product we purchase and sell as a distributor; the regulatory environment; our exposure to product liability and other lawsuits and contingencies; the increasing cost of insurance and the availability of product liability insurance coverage; our timely and successful completion of strategic initiatives, including integrating companies and products we acquire and implementing our new enterprise resource planning system; fluctuations in operating results, including the effects on such results from spending for research and development, sales and marketing activities and patent challenge activities; the inherent uncertainty associated with financial projections; changes in generally accepted accounting principles; and other risks detailed from time-to-time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2004.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date the statement was made. The Company undertakes no obligation (nor does it intend) to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required under applicable law.

Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

CONTACT: Carol A. Cox of Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc., +1-201-930-3720,ccox@barrlabs.com

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