Exhibit 31.1   Certification
Pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) of the Exchange Act I, Patrick G.
LePore, certify that: 1. I have reviewed this quarterly report
on Form 10-Q of Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc.;  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 report;  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 report;  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:  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;  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;  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  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  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:  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  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.  Date: August 7, 2008
/s/ Patrick G. LePorePatrick G. LePore
Chairman, President and Chief
Executive Officer