Exhibit 99.5


                   CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO 17 CFR 240.13A-14
         PROMULGATED UNDER SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, Leon F. Gosselin, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive
Officer of Axcan Pharma Inc. certify that:

1.      I have reviewed this annual report on Form 40F of Axcan Pharma Inc.;

2.      Based on my knowledge, this 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 report, fairly present in all material
        respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows
        of the issuer as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.      The registrant'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)) for the issuer
        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 issuer, including
        its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within
        those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is
        being prepared;

        (b) evaluated the effectiveness of the issuer'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

        (c) disclosed in this report any change in the issuer's internal control
        over financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by the
        annual report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to
        materially affect, the issuer's internal control over financial
        reporting; and

5.      The issuer's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our
        most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to
        the issuer's auditors and the audit committee of the issuer's board of
        directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

        (a) all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design
        or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are
        reasonably likely to adversely affect the issuer'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 issuer's internal
        control over financial reporting.

Date:   February 20, 2004


/s/ Leon F. Gosselin
---------------------------
Leon F. Gosselin
Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer