New River Pharmaceuticals’ CEO and CFO Each Adopt Rule 10b5-1 Trading Plans

RADFORD, Va., July 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — New River Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced today that its President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, Randal J. Kirk, and its Chief Financial and Operating Officer, Krish S. Krishnan, have established stock trading plans under Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

“We began to explore these plans in order to improve liquidity which will allow additional investors to participate in the future of New River,” explained Krishnan. In a July 13 report on the company, David Munno of Merrill Lynch cited the small public float of the stock as a concern. The report noted that roughly 11.7 million of the company’s 17.89 million shares — or approximately 65% — are held by management, and all but one to two million of the remaining shares are held by a small number of other shareholders, including institutions, hedge funds and Par Pharmaceuticals.

Kirk’s plans relate to the sale of New River stock by seven entities under his control. Under his plans, over the next 12 months these entities will sell up to one million shares, which comprise less than 9% of the holdings Kirk owns or controls. He will not sell any shares he owns personally.

“We believe this plan is the best way to address the desire of major institutional investors to acquire meaningful holdings, while still maintaining a significant share position, which I intend to do over the long term,” Kirk commented. “I have no interest in selling otherwise.”

Krishnan’s plan will provide for the exercise of options on and sale of up to 60,000 shares over the next 12 months.

Rule 10b5-1 allows a company’s insiders to adopt written, pre-arranged trading plans during a period in which they do not have material, non-public information. Once established, such plans govern the trades’ parameters without influence from the insiders, such that the trades can be executed without regard to any material, non-public information the insiders may subsequently receive.

About New River

New River Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing novel pharmaceuticals that are safer and improved versions of widely-prescribed drugs, including amphetamines and opioids.

Disclaimer

Any opinions, estimates or forecasts regarding New River Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s historical or predicted performance made by analysts at research firms are theirs alone and do not represent opinions, forecasts or predictions of New River Pharmaceuticals Inc. or its management. New River Pharmaceuticals Inc. does not imply its endorsement of or concurrence with such information, conclusions or recommendations. Interested investors must obtain copies of analysts’ reports by contacting the appropriate firm on his or her own; New River Pharmaceuticals Inc. does not distribute these reports. Various of these firms may be market-makers in New River Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s stock and/or hold other long or short positions in the stock, and may provide compensated services to New River Pharmaceuticals Inc.

“SAFE HARBOR” STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995

This press release contains certain forward-looking information that is intended to be covered by the safe harbor for “forward-looking statements” provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. Words such as “expect(s),”"feel(s),”"believe(s),”"will,”"may,”"anticipate(s)” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements include, but are not limited to, financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions; statements regarding plans, objectives and expectations with respect to future operations, products and services; and statements regarding future performance. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of New River Pharmaceuticals, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include: those discussed and identified in the New River Pharmaceuticals Inc. annual report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on April 1, 2005; the progress or likelihood of success of our product research and development programs; the status of our preclinical and clinical development of potential drugs; the likelihood of success of our drug products in clinical trials and the regulatory approval process; our drug products’ efficacy, abuse and tamper resistance, onset and duration of drug action, ability to provide protection from overdose, ability to improve patients’ symptoms, and incidence of adverse events; the ability to develop, manufacture, launch and market our drug products; our projections for future revenues, profitability and ability to achieve certain sales targets; our estimates regarding our capital requirements and our needs for additional financing; the likelihood of obtaining favorable scheduling and labeling of our drug products; the likelihood of regulatory approval under Section 505(b)(2) under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; our ability to develop safer and improved versions of widely-prescribed drugs using our Carrierwave (TM) technology; and our ability to obtain favorable patent claims. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date hereof. New River Pharmaceuticals does not undertake any obligation to republish revised forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Readers are also urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures in New River Pharmaceuticals’ annual report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on April 1, 2005, as well as other public filings with the SEC.

    Contacts:     New River:    The Ruth Group     John Quirk (investors)             Zack Kubow (media)    646-536-7029                       646-536-7020    jquirk@theruthgroup.com            zkubow@theruthgroup.com  

New River Pharmaceuticals Inc.

CONTACT: Investors, John Quirk, +1-646-536-7029, jquirk@theruthgroup.com,or Media, Zack Kubow, +1-646-536-7020, zkubow@theruthgroup.com both for NewRiver