Exhibit
31.2  Certification
Pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) of the Exchange Act I, Veronica
A. Lubatkin, 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/ Veronica A.
LubatkinVeronica A. Lubatkin
Executive Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer