FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE





Contact:                 Salix Pharmaceuticals:


Adam C. Derbyshire                                                      G. Michael Freeman


Executive Vice President                                              Associate Vice President, Investor Relations


and Chief Financial Officer                                           and Corporate Communications


919-862-1000                                                                   919-862-1000





Progenics Pharmaceuticals:


Amy Martini, Corporate Affairs


914-789-2816





SALIX AND PROGENICS ANNOUNCE FDA EXTENSION OF RELISTOR® sNDA GOAL DATE TO JULY 27, 2012








RALEIGH, NC, April 25, 2012 - Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd.  (NASDAQ:SLXP) and Progenics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:PGNX) today announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) goal date for the Agency’s review of the Supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for RELISTOR® (methylnaltrexone bromide) injection for subcutaneous use for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation (OIC) in adult patients with chronic, non-cancer pain.  The FDA has notified Salix that it requires
additional time for a full review of the submission and has extended the April 27, 2012 goal date by the standard extension period of three months.  The extended user fee goal date is July 27, 2012.  The extension requested no additional studies.




RELISTOR is a peripherally acting mu-opioid receptor antagonist that counteracts the constipating effects of opioid pain medications in the gastrointestinal tract without affecting their ability to relieve pain.  The FDA approved RELISTOR Subcutaneous Injection in 2008 for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation (OIC) in patients with advanced illness who are receiving palliative care, when response to laxative therapy has not been sufficient. Use of RELISTOR beyond 4 months has not been studied.







About Salix





Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, develops and markets prescription pharmaceutical products for the prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. Salix’s strategy is to in-license late-stage or marketed proprietary therapeutic products, complete any required development and regulatory submission of these products, and market them through the Company’s gastroenterology specialty sales and marketing team.





Salix markets XIFAXAN® (rifaximin) tablets 200 mg and 550 mg,  MOVIPREP® (PEG 3350, Sodium Sulfate, Sodium Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Ascorbate and Ascorbic Acid for Oral Solution), OSMOPREPÒ (sodium phosphate monobasic monohydrate, USP and sodium phosphate dibasic anhydrous, USP) Tablets, VISICOL® (sodium phosphate monobasic monohydrate,
USP, and sodium phosphate dibasic anhydrous, USP) Tablets, APRISOTM (mesalamine) extended-release capsules 0.375 g, METOZOLV® ODT (metoclopramide HCl), RELISTOR® (methylnaltrexone bromide) Subcutaneous Injection, SOLESTA®, DEFLUX®,  PEPCID®(famotidine) for Oral Suspension, Oral Suspension DIURIL®(Chlorothiazide),
AZASAN® (Azathioprine) Tablets, USP, 75/100 mg, ANUSOL-HC® 2.5% (Hydrocortisone Cream, USP), ANUSOL-HC® 25 mg Suppository (Hydrocortisone Acetate), PROCTOCORT® Cream (Hydrocortisone Cream, USP) 1% and PROCTOCORT® Suppository (Hydrocortisone Acetate Rectal Suppositories) 30 mg. Crofelemer, budesonide foam, RELISTOR®,
Lumacan® and rifaximin for additional indications are under development.





For full prescribing information and important safety information on Salix products, including BOXED WARNINGS for VISICOL, OSMOPREP and METOZOLV,  please visit www.salix.com where the Company promptly posts press releases, SEC filings and other important information or contact the Company at 919 862-1000.





Salix trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “SLXP”.





For more information, please visit our Website at www.salix.com or contact the Company at 919-862-1000. Follow us on Twitter (@SalixPharma) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/SalixPharma). Information on our Twitter feed, Face book page and web site is not incorporated in our SEC filings.








About Progenics





Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc., of Tarrytown, N.Y., is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing innovative medicines to treat disease, with a focus on cancer and related conditions. Progenics' pipeline candidates include PSMA ADC, a human monoclonal antibody-drug conjugate in phase 1 testing for treatment of prostate cancer, and preclinical stage novel multiplex phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitors for the treatment of cancer. Progenics has exclusively licensed development and commercialization rights for its first commercial product, RELISTOR®, to Salix
Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. for markets worldwide other than Japan, where Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. holds an exclusive license for the subcutaneous formulation. RELISTOR (methylnaltrexone bromide) subcutaneous injection is a first-in-class treatment for opioid-induced constipation approved in more than 50 countries for patients with advanced illness. Regulatory approval is pending for use of RELISTOR by patients with chronic, non-cancer pain. Salix and Progenics have announced positive highly statistically significant results from a phase 3 trial of oral methylnaltrexone in chronic, non-cancer pain subjects with opioid-induced constipation.





Please Note: The materials provided herein contain projections and other forward–looking statements regarding future events. Such 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, among others: the unpredictability of the duration and results of regulatory review of New Drug Applications and Investigational NDAs; market acceptance for approved products; the cost, timing and results of clinical trials and other development activities involving pharmaceutical products; generic and other competition; litigation and the possible impairment of, or inability to
obtain, intellectual property rights and the costs of obtaining such rights from third parties in an increasingly global industry; and revenue recognition and other critical accounting policies. More information concerning Progenics and Salix is available on the companies’ websites, as well as in press releases and reports they file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.