Salix Pharmaceuticals to Offer 4,000,000 Shares of Common Stock.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

BIOWIRE2K

RALEIGH, N.C.--(BW HealthWire)--Feb. 12, 2002

Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (Nasdaq:SLXP) today announced the filing of a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to its proposed public offering of 4,000,000 shares of its common stock, plus an additional 600,000 shares to cover over-allotments, if any.

UBS Warburg LLC and Wachovia Securities will act as the joint book-running managers of the offering. Thomas Weisel Partners LLC, Leerink Swann & Company, and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey will act as the co-managers. A preliminary prospectus, when available, may be obtained from UBS Warburg, LLC, 299 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10171, Attention: Prospectus Department or Wachovia Securities, 7 St. Paul Street, Baltimore, MD 21202.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the offering for the potential acquisition of additional products; the marketing and, if necessary, development of those products; the development and commercialization of its second product, LUMENAX(TM) (rifaximin), as a treatment for travelers' diarrhea; the development and commercialization of new indications for both COLAZAL(TM) (balsalazide disodium), the Company's first marketed product, and LUMENAX(TM); general corporate purposes; and working capital.

The registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the SEC but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state.

Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, develops and markets prescription drugs for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. Salix's strategy is to identify and acquire rights to products that it believes have potential for more rapid regulatory approval or are already approved; apply its regulatory, product development, and sales and marketing expertise to commercialize these products; and use its 60-person sales force focused on high-prescribing U.S. gastroenterologists to sell its products. Salix's first marketed product is COLAZAL, an anti-inflammatory drug approved for the treatment of mildly to moderately active ulcerative colitis. The Company launched the product in the U.S. through its specialty sales force in January 2001. COLAZAL was well tolerated in clinical studies. In clinical trials, patients reported the following adverse events most frequently: 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. Salix's next product candidate is LUMENAX (rifaximin), currently in development for the potential treatment of infections of the lower gastrointestinal tract. The Company submitted an NDA for rifaximin for the treatment of travelers' diarrhea to the FDA on December 26, 2001. Salix trades on the Nasdaq National Market under the ticker symbol "SLXP."

For more information please contact the Company at 919-862-1000 or visit our web site at www.salixpharm.com .

Please note: This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events. These 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 stock price volatility, the uncertainty of market acceptance of COLAZAL and rifaximin, our limited sales and marketing experience, timing of customer purchases, our ability to manage growth, risks of clinical trials and regulatory review, and the need to acquire new products. There is no assurance that the proposed public offering will be completed. The reader is referred to the documents that the Company files from time to time with the Securities Exchange Commission.