Biovail Announces Block Trade.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 10, 2003

Biovail Corporation (NYSE:BVF)(TSX:BVF) announced today that its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Eugene Melnyk, sold in a private transaction 2.7 million shares at $18.00 per share to a company owned by Mr. Jim Pattison, a well-known Canadian businessman. This sale represents approximately 10% of Mr. Melnyk's personal interest in Biovail Corporation.

Since December 1999, Mr. Melnyk's ownership interest in the Biovail Corporation increased by approximately 530,000 shares to 27,599,516 common shares (including 1,797,700 stock options) prior to the sale transaction. Mr. Melnyk remains Biovail's largest shareholder whose ownership interest, after the transaction, is 23,101,816 or approximately 15% of Biovail's outstanding common shares. Mr. Melnyk has filed a Form 13-D with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission formalizing the elimination of a $55 million personal line of credit.

Mr. Pattison is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Pattison Group, Canada's third largest privately held company employing 26,000 people with annual sales in excess of $4 billion. The Pattison Group owns stakes in a number of publicly owned companies including significant interests in Canfor Corporation and Slocan Forest Products Ltd.

"We decided to invest in Biovail because we support the management team and its more conservative approach, which is focused on cash flow generation," commented Mr. Pattison. "We like the opportunity to participate in the growth of the pharmaceutical industry."

Biovail Corporation is an international full-service pharmaceutical company, engaged in the formulation, clinical testing, registration, manufacture, sale and promotion of pharmaceutical products utilizing advanced drug delivery technologies.

For further information, please contact Ken Howling at 905-286-3000 or send inquiries to [e-mail].

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To the extent any statements made in this release contain information that is not historical, these statements are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are identified by words such as "believe", "anticipate", "expect", "intend", "plan", "will", "may" and other similar expressions. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not necessarily limited to risks and uncertainties, including the difficulty of predicting FDA approvals, acceptance and demand for new pharmaceutical products, the impact of competitive products and pricing, new product development and launch, reliance on key strategic alliances, availability of raw materials and finished products, third parties, the regulatory environment, fluctuations in operating results and other risks detailed from time to time in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.