Exhibit 31.1

SARBANES-OXLEY ACT SECTION 302(a) CERTIFICATION

I, Francois Nader, President and Chief Executive Officer, certify that:



|1. | I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-K of NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc.;
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|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;
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|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 registrant
as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
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|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)) and internal control
over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and 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 registrant, 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;
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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 registrant'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 registrant's internal control over financial reporting that
occurred during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual
report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal control over
financial reporting; and
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|5. | The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of
internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of registrant's board of
directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
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| | 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 registrant'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 registrant's internal control over financial reporting.
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|Date: March 11, 2010 | /s/ FRANCOIS NADER
                      Francois NaderPresident and Chief Executive Officer
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