Akorn, Inc. Signs a Definitive Agreement with Fidia Farmaceutici, S.p.A. To Develop Four ANDA Drug Products for Commercialization.

BUFFALO GROVE, Ill. -- Akorn, Inc. (AMEX:AKN) today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement with Fidia Farmaceutici S.p.A., a privately-held pharmaceutical company located in Abano Terme (Padova), Italy, to develop four ANDA drug products. The two companies had previously signed a Letter of Intent on October 13, 2005, to develop these four drugs.

The four products include one ointment and one cream for topical application, and two tablet formulations used in the immuno compromised anti-viral market. The combined current market size of the four drugs is approximately $1.0 billion. Fidia will be responsible for product development and manufacturing of all four products including clinical development of the two tablet formulations while Akorn will be responsible for the clinical development of the ointment and cream formulations along with sales and marketing efforts. According to the signed agreement, Akorn will make milestone development fee payments to Fidia and have exclusive rights to market these four drugs in both the United States and Canada.

Arthur S. Przybyl, Akorn's President and Chief Executive Officer stated, "These drug products represent an important future revenue opportunity for Akorn. Fidia has the expertise and capabilities to develop these four drugs."

Emilio Mauri, Fidia's Managing Director stated, "We are pleased to extend our successful business partnership with Akorn, which represents a milestone in our commitment to making available high quality drug products in the U.S. and Canadian markets."

About Akorn, Inc.

Akorn, Inc. manufactures and markets sterile specialty pharmaceuticals. Akorn has manufacturing facilities located in Decatur, Illinois and Somerset, New Jersey and markets and distributes an extensive line of hospital and ophthalmic pharmaceuticals. Additional information is available at the Company's website at www.akorn.com.

About Fidia Farmaceutici S.p.A.

Fidia Farmaceutici S.p.A. is an Italian pharmaceutical company that operates worldwide to develop and market innovative healthcare products, mainly based on sodium hyaluronate (HA) and its derivatives. With many

years of experience in the U.S. and Canada with injectable and topical products, Fidia is now actively working to make available at the international level, fully integrated generic finished products, thanks to its facilities and state of the art equipment for oral, topical, and injectable forms.

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