Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Highlights Taribavirin Phase IIb Data

ALISO VIEJO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:VRX - News) today announced that results from the treatment week 12 analysis for its Phase IIb clinical trial for taribavirin, a prodrug of ribavirin which is in development for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C in conjunction with a pegylated interferon, have been accepted for presentation as a late breaker at the European Association for the Study of Liver (EASL) 43rd Annual Meeting in Milan, Italy, April 23-27, 2008.

The title of the abstract is “Treatment Week 12 Results of Weight Based Taribavirin Versus Weight Based Ribavirin, Both with Peginterferon Alpha-2b, in Naïve Chronic Hepatitis C, Genotype 1 Patients” and the oral presentation will be given at EASL on Saturday, April 26, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. CET (12:00 p.m. EDT) by Fred Poordad, M.D., Chief of Hepatology at the Center for Liver Disease and Transplant, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA. and principal investigator in this study.

About Taribavirin

Taribavirin is an investigational compound that has not been found by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or any other regulatory agency to be safe or effective in the diagnosis, mitigation, treatment or cure of any disease or illness. It may not be sold or promoted in the United States unless and until FDA has approved a New Drug Application. Similar restrictions apply in other countries.

About Valeant

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (NYSE:VRX - News) is a multinational specialty pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of pharmaceutical products primarily in the areas of neurology, infectious disease and dermatology. More information about Valeant can be found at www.valeant.com.

Contact:

Valeant Pharmaceuticals Laurie W. Little, 949-461-6002

Source: Valeant Pharmaceuticals