SALIX NEWS ROOM - 04/09/08 - Salix Receives Purported Notice of Paragraph IV Certification Against Patent for MoviPrep<sup>®</sup>

Salix Receives Purported Notice of Paragraph IV Certification Against Patent for MoviPrep^®

RALEIGH, NC, April 9, 2008 – Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:SLXP) today announced that the Company and its licensor, Norgine B.V., have received a purported notice of Paragraph IV Certification on behalf of Novel Laboratories, Inc. advising of the submission of an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for MOVIPREP^® (PEG 3350, sodium sulfate, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium ascorbate and ascorbic acid for oral solution). Novel is a privately–held company that has been affiliated with Elite Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMEX:ELI).

Novel's letter alleges that U.S. Patent No. 7,169,381, owned by Norgine Europe B.V. and listed in the Orange Book for MOVIPREP, is invalid, unenforceable and/or will not be infringed by Novel's manufacture, use or sale of the product for which the ANDA is submitted. The expiration date for U.S. Patent No. 7,169,381 is September 1, 2024.

Salix has 45 days to commence a patent infringement lawsuit against Novel that would automatically stay, or bar, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from approving Novel's ANDA for up to 30 months or until a district court decision that is adverse to Salix, whichever may occur earlier.

Salix and Norgine have full confidence in the intellectual property rights that protect MOVIPREP. Moreover, Salix and Norgine intend to use all reasonable means at their disposal to vigorously defend MOVIPREP from any and all generic intrusion.

Norgine B.V., headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, is a privately–owned, European specialty pharmaceutical company, developing and marketing pharmaceutical products in the therapeutic areas of gastroenterology, hepatology and pain management. Norgine is a leader in this sector in Europe and is unique in having a balanced sales presence across all major markets. The company has over 1,000 employees and sales in 2007 were approximately $350 million.

Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, develops and markets prescription pharmaceutical products for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. Salix's strategy is to in–license late–stage or marketed proprietary therapeutic drugs, complete any required development and regulatory submission of these products, and market them through the Company's gastroenterology specialty sales and marketing team.

For full prescribing information on Salix products, please visit www.salix.com.

Salix trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol "SLXP".

For more information please visit our web site at www.salix.com or contact the Company at 919–862–1000. Information on our web site is not incorporated in our SEC filings.

Please Note: The materials provided herein contain projections and other forward–looking statements regarding future events. Such statements are just predictions and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual events or results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, among others: our need to return to profitability; the high cost and uncertainty of the research, clinical trials and other development activities involving pharmaceutical products; the unpredictability of the duration and results of regulatory review of New Drug Applications and Investigational NDAs; market acceptance for approved products; the need to acquire new products; generic and other competition and the possible impairment of, or inability to obtain, intellectual property rights and the costs of obtaining such rights from third parties. The reader is referred to the documents that the Company files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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COLAZAL^® (balsalazide disodium) Capsules 750 mg are indicated for the treatment of mildly to moderately active Ulcerative Colitis in patients 5 years of age and older. COLAZAL does not relieve symptoms in all patients; your patients' results may vary. In four well-controlled clinical trials, patients receiving a COLAZAL dose of 6.75g/day most frequently reported the following events (reporting frequency > 3%): headache (8%), abdominal pain (6%), diarrhea (5%), nausea (5%), vomiting (4%), respiratory infection (4%), and arthralgia (4%). Withdrawal from therapy due to adverse events was comparable to placebo. In the pediatric trial, patients most frequently reported the following adverse events: headache (15%), abdominal pain upper (13%), abdominal pain (12%), vomiting (10%), diarrhea (9%), colitis ulcerative (6%), nasopharyngitis (6%) and, pyrexia (6%). COLAZAL is contraindicated in patients with a hypersensitivity to salicylates or the components of COLAZAL capsules or balsalazide metabolites. The safety and effectiveness of COLAZAL beyond 8 weeks in children (ages 5-17 years) and 12 weeks in adults have not been established.

Consult with your physician to see if this product is right for you.

For complete Prescribing Information, please click here.

Xifaxan^® (rifaximin) Tablets are indicated for the treatment of patients (≥12 years of age) with travelers' diarrhea caused by non-invasive strains of Escherichia coli. Xifaxan should not be used in patients with diarrhea complicated by fever or blood in the stool or diarrhea due to pathogens other than Escherichia coli. Xifaxan should be discontinued if diarrhea symptoms get worse or persist more than 24-48 hours and alternative antibiotic therapy should be considered.

In clinical trials, Xifaxan was generally well tolerated. The most common side effects (vs. placebo) were flatulence 11.3% (vs. 19.7%), headache 9.7% (vs. 9.2%), abdominal pain 7.2% (vs. 10.1 %), rectal tenesmus 7.2% (vs. 8.8%), defecation urgency 5.9% (vs. 9.2%) and nausea 5.3% (vs. 8.3%).

Consult with your physician to see if this product is right for you.

For complete Prescribing Information, please click here.

MoviPrep^® (PEG-3350, sodium sulfate, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium ascorbate and ascorbic acid for oral solution) is indicated for cleansing of the colon as a preparation for colonoscopy in adults 18 years of age or older. MoviPrep is contraindicated in patients who have had a severe hypersensitivity reaction to any of its components. MoviPrep should be used with caution in patients using concomitant medications that increase the risk of electrolyte abnormalities, in patients with known or suspected hyponatremia, severe ulcerative colitis, ileus, gastrointestinal obstruction or perforation, gastric retention, toxic colitis, toxic megacolon, or glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency. In clinical trials, abdominal distention, anal discomfort, thirst, nausea, and abdominal pain were the most common adverse reactions to MoviPrep administration. MoviPrep contains a maximum of 2.33 mg of phenylalanine per treatment.

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For complete Prescribing Information, please click here.

OsmoPrep^® (sodium phosphate monobasic monohydrate, USP, and sodium phosphate dibasic anhydrous, USP) Tablets are indicated for cleansing of the colon as a preparation for colonoscopy in adults 18 years of age or older. Considerable caution should be advised before OsmoPrep is used in patients with severe renal insufficiency, congestive heart failure, ascites, unstable angina, gastric retention, ileus, acute obstruction or pseudo-obstruction of the bowel, severe chronic constipation, bowel perforation, acute colitis, toxic megacolon, gastric bypass or stapling surgery, or hypomotility syndrome. Use with caution in patients with impaired renal function, patients with a history of acute phosphate nephropathy, patients with a history of seizures or at higher risk of seizure, patients with higher risk of cardiac arrhythmias, known or suspected electrolyte disturbances (such as dehydration), or people taking drugs that affect electrolyte levels. Patients with electrolyte abnormalities such as hypernatremia, hyperphosphatemia, hypokalemia, or hypocalcemia should have their electrolytes corrected before treatment with OsmoPrep. OsmoPrep is contraindicated in patients with a known allergy or hypersensitivity to sodium phosphate salts or any of its ingredients. In clinical trials, the most commonly reported adverse reactions (reporting frequency >3%) were abdominal bloating, nausea, abdominal pain, and vomiting. It is recommended that patients receiving OsmoPrep be advised to adequately hydrate before, during, and after the use of OsmoPrep.

Consult with your physician to see if this product is right for you.

For complete Prescribing Information, please click here.