|   |   |   | **Exhibit                  31.1** |
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**Certification      Pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) of the Exchange Act **

| 1. | I                have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Par                Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc.; |
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| 2. | Based                on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any untrue                statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary                to                make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which                such                statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered                by                this quarterly report; |
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| 3. | Based                on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information                included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all material                respects                the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of                the                Company as of, and for, the periods presented in this quarterly report; |
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| 4. | The                Company’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing                and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in                Exchange                Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over                financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and                15d-15(f)) for the Company and we have: |
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|   | a) | designed                such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure                controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to                ensure                that material information relating to the Company, including its                consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those                entities, particularly during the period in which this quarterly                report is                being prepared; |
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|   | b) | designed                such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal                control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision                to                provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial                reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external                purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting                principles; |
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|   | c) |   | evaluated                the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures and                presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness                of the                disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered                by                this report, based on such evaluation;                and |
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|   | d) |   | disclosed                in this report any change in the Company’s internal control over financial                reporting that occurred during the Company’s most recent fiscal quarter                that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially                affect                the Company’s internal control over financial reporting;                and |
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| 5. | The                Company’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most                recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to                the                Company’s auditors and the audit committee of the Company’s board of                directors: |
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|   | a) | all                significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or                operation of internal controls over financial reporting which are                reasonably likely to adversely affect the Company’s ability to record,                process, summarize and report financial information; and |
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|   | b) | any                fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other                employees who have a significant role in the Company’s internal control                over financial reporting. |
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| Date:                May 8, 2008 | /s/                Patrick G. LePore                                                                          |
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|                             | Patrick                G. LePoreChairman,                President and Chief Executive                Officer |

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