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[January 26, 2005]

Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Establishes Science and Development Advisory Board

EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. --(Business Wire)-- Jan. 26, 2005 -- Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SVNT), an emerging specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in developing, manufacturing and marketing pharmaceutical products that address unmet medical needs, announced today the formation of a Science and Development Advisory Board (SDAB) with the appointments of Leslie Z. Benet, PhD., Lee S. Simon, M.D., and Wise Young, M.D., Ph.D.


These scientific leaders have been recognized for their expertise and experience in medical science associated with drug discovery and development. The SDAB was created to provide independent wisdom and insight to Savient's Senior Management and Board of Directors on emerging technologies and scientific discoveries relevant to its corporate strategies and objectives.

Leslie Z. Benet, Ph.D. is the Founder and Chairman of AvMax, Professor and former Chairman, Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Benet is a graduate of the University of Michigan (A.B. English/B.S. Pharmacy) and from the University of California (Ph.D.). His research interests and more than 460 publications are in the areas of pharmacokinetics, biopharmaceutics, and pharmacodynamics. His most recent work addressed the cooperative effects of metabolic isozymes of cytochromes P-450 and efflux and absorptive transport proteins as related to immunosuppressive, anti-cancer, anti-AIDS and anti-parasitic drugs as well as drugs of importance to women's health.

Lee S. Simon, M.D. is currently the Head of Regulatory Consultants at MEDACorp. Dr. Simon joined the firm from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) where he was the Division Director of the Analgesic, Anti-inflammatory and Ophthalmologic Drug Products Division at the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Prior to his tenure at the FDA, Dr. Simon was Director of Rheumatology Clinical Research and an Associate Chief of Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA. He is also an Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine and the Co-course Director, Clinical Pharmacology HST at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Simon attended Loyola College in Maryland, is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and trained in Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital and in Rheumatology at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Wise Young, M.D., Ph.D., Founding Director of the W. M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, is recognized as one of the world leaders in the field of spinal cord injury research. He also is at the vanguard of stem cell research and has advised the State of New Jersey in its efforts to provide leadership in this field. A graduate of the Reed College (B.A.), the University of Iowa (Ph.D.), and Stanford University (M.D.), Dr. Young was Director of the Neurosurgery Laboratories at NYC/Bellevue Hospital in New York for 20 years. In 1997 he was recruited by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, to establish a world-class neuroscience center. In August 2001, TIME Magazine named Dr. Young as 'America's Best' in the field of spinal cord injury research.

Zeb Horowitz, M.D., Savient's S.V.P. and Chief Medical Officer, said, "I am delighted we have been able to attract this distinguished team to our Advisory Board. The creation of the new Science and Development Advisory Board reflects our commitment to our strategic drug development program and enables us to benefit from these scientists' extensive expertise in all areas of critical importance to Savient's current and future pipeline."

These external advisors will be joined by two members of Savient's Board of Directors, Herbert J. Conrad, President (retired), Roche Pharmaceuticals Division, Hoffmann-La Roche, Ltd. and Herbert Weissbach, Ph.D., distinguished research professor and Director, Center for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Florida Atlantic University, and former Director of the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology.

About Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is engaged in developing, manufacturing, and marketing pharmaceutical products that address unmet medical needs in both niche and wider markets. Products marketed by Savient in the United States are Oxandrin(R) (oxandrolone, USP) and Delatestryl(R) (testosterone enanthate). The Company's subsidiary, Rosemont Pharmaceuticals Limited, develops, manufactures, and markets through its own sales force oral liquid formulations of prescription products for the UK pharmaceutical market. The Company's Israeli subsidiary, Bio-Technology General (Israel) Ltd., manufactures and markets in Israel Bio-Tropin(TM) (recombinant human growth hormone), BioLon(R) (sodium hyaluronate for ophthalmic surgery), Bio-Hep-B(R) (hepatitis B vaccine), and Arthrease(TM) (sodium hyaluronate for osteoarthritis). Products marketed by Savient's licensees are Mircette(R) (oral contraceptive), and BioLon(R) in the United States, and Bio-Tropin(TM), BioLon(R), Bio-Hep-B(R), Silkis(R) (vitamin D derivative), and recombinant human insulin, in international markets. Savient's news releases and other information are available on the Company's website at www.savientpharma.com.

Arthrease is a trademark of DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., except in Israel, where it is owned by Bio-Technology General (Israel) Ltd., Savient's wholly owned subsidiary; Mircette is a registered trademark of Organon, Inc.; Puricase is a registered trademark of Mountain View Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Silkis is a registered trademark of Galderma S.A.

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this report regarding the Company's strategy, expected future financial position, results of operations, cash flows, financing plans, discovery and development of products, strategic alliances, competitive position, plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "will" and other similar expressions help identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. In particular, the statements regarding the Company's new strategic direction and its potential effects on the Company's business are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties and are based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections about the Company's business and the biopharmaceutical and specialty pharmaceutical industries in which the Company operates. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, delay or failure in developing Prosaptide, Puricase and other product candidates; difficulties of expanding the Company's product portfolio through in-licensing; disruption of management and costs associated with the divestiture of the Company's operations in Israel; introduction of generic competition for Oxandrin; fluctuations in buying patterns of wholesalers; potential future returns of Oxandrin or other products; difficulties in obtaining financing; potential development of alternative technologies or more effective products by competitors; reliance on third-parties to manufacture, market and distribute many of the Company's products; economic, political and other risks associated with foreign operations; risks of maintaining protection for the Company's intellectual property; risks of an adverse determination in on-going or future intellectual property litigation; and risks associated with stringent government regulation of the biopharmaceutical and specialty pharmaceutical industries. The Company may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in its forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements that the Company makes. The Company's forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions, mergers, dispositions, joint ventures or investments that the Company may make. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

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