Kos Appoints John J. Howarth as Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Affairs.

CRANBURY, N.J. -- Kos Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:KOSP) announced the appointment of John J. Howarth to Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Affairs effective October 17, 2005. Mr. Howarth brings to Kos a wealth of knowledge, experience and leadership in investor relations spanning more than 22 years in the healthcare industry, including experience in early-stage emerging biotechnology, as well as medium and large pharmaceutical companies.

"We are very excited that Jack is joining our leadership team," said Adrian Adams, President and CEO of Kos Pharmaceuticals. "He has all the elements necessary for a successful investor relations leader. His experience gained with Warner-Lambert, Elan and Antigenics encompasses, among other things, a significant financial background in accounting, financial analysis, M&A and SEC reporting. All of this will ensure timely, clear and seamless communication with all our stakeholders as we continue to deliver with excellence against our short, medium and long-term plans."

Mr. Howarth joins Kos from Antigenics, Inc. where he served as Head of Investor Relations since 2003. Prior to holding this position, he was Vice President of Investor Relations at Elan Corporation, PLC from 2000 to 2003. Previously, Mr. Howarth had a career spanning nearly two decades at Warner-Lambert Company where he held positions of increasing responsibility. During his tenure, Warner-Lambert had a number of significant corporate and product events including the launch of Lipitor(R), the launch and subsequent recall of Rezulin(R), as well as significant merger discussions. Mr. Howarth received his B.S. degree in Accounting from Boston College and his M.B.A. in Finance from Seton Hall University.

Kos Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a fully integrated specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in developing, commercializing, manufacturing and marketing proprietary prescription products for the treatment of chronic diseases. The Company's principal product development strategy is to reformulate existing pharmaceutical products with large market potential to improve safety, efficacy, or patient compliance. The Company currently markets Niaspan(R) and Advicor(R) for the treatment of cholesterol disorders, Azmacort(R) for the treatment of asthma, Cardizem(R)LA for the treatment of hypertension and angina, and Teveten(R) and Teveten(R) HCT for the treatment of hypertension. Kos is developing additional products, has proprietary drug delivery technologies in solid-dose and aerosol metered-dose inhalation administration and is pursuing certain strategic business development and licensing opportunities.

Certain statements in this press release, including statements regarding the Company's ability to develop or acquire additional products, and the Company's ability to successfully negotiate additional important strategic business development and licensing opportunities, are forward-looking and are subject to risks and uncertainties which may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in a forward-looking statement. These risks and uncertainties include, the continuing growth of the cardiovascular and respiratory markets, the Company's ability to maintain its compliance with FDA regulations and standards without adversely affecting the Company's manufacturing capability or ability to meet its production requirements or profit margins, changes in the regulatory environment governing the Company's compliance with the FDA, PTO, tax and competition issues, the Company's ability to achieve regulatory approvals for its products under development in a timely manner, the effect of conditions in the pharmaceutical industry and the economy in general, as well as certain other risks. A more detailed discussion of risks attendant to the forward-looking statements included in this press release are set forth in the "Forward-Looking Information: Certain Cautionary Statements" section of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and in other reports filed with the SEC.