Andrx Announces Altocor Approved by Illinois Medicaid.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 13, 2002

Andrx Corporation (Nasdaq:ADRX) today announced that Altocor(TM), its cholesterol-lowering product, will be added to the Illinois Medicaid Preferred Drug List (PDL) effective January 1, 2003. In fiscal year 2001, 1.5 million persons a month, or 1 in 8 Illinois residents, were covered by Medicaid.

Richard J. Lane, Andrx's Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We are pleased that Illinois, like Florida before it, has recognized the medical and cost benefits of Altocor, and has chosen to recommend it as part of its Medicaid program. Inclusion on the Illinois PDL is particularly significant, since it is one of the few state Medicaid programs which has implemented a 'managed care like' formulary in which covered products are selected based on comparative safety, efficacy and cost. Altocor is fully covered while many of the other products in its class require prior authorization before they can be dispensed. This should enhance Altocor's acceptance as a preferred drug prescribed to prevent and treat cardiovascular disease."

About Illinois Medicaid

Medicaid is a jointly-funded state and federal government program that pays for medically necessary services for persons who can demonstrate need as established through income and asset standards and either is a child, has dependent children, is pregnant, blind, disabled or age 65 or older. In Illinois, Medicaid is administered by the Department of Public Aid (IDPA), which is dedicated to, among other things, improving the health of Illinois' families by providing access to quality health care.

About Andrx

Andrx Corporation is a specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in the formulation and commercialization of oral controlled-release generic and brand pharmaceuticals utilizing its proprietary drug delivery technologies. Andrx also markets and distributes pharmaceutical products manufactured by third parties. This release and additional information about Andrx Corporation are also available on the Internet at: http://www.andrx.com.

Forward-looking statements (statements which are not historical facts) in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For this purpose, any statements contained in this report that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, words such as "may," "will," "to," "expect," "plan," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "could," "would," "estimate," or "continue" or the negative or other variations thereof or comparable terminology is intended to identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including those risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to, the introduction and market acceptance of Altocor, including whether or not it is successfully added to state formularies and managed care preferred drug lists as described herein as well as Andrx's results of operations. The Company is also subject to other risks as detailed from time-to-time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.