Questcor Pharmaceuticals Announces New Business Strategy; Company to F

    Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers
    American Academy of Neurology meeting

    UNION CITY, Calif. & MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 13, 2005--Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMEX:QSC), a specialty pharmaceutical company, announced today its new business strategy and therapeutic focus. The company will now focus exclusively on developing and commercializing products that treat diseases and disorders of the central nervous system (CNS). Questcor is announcing its new CNS-based strategy from Miami, Florida, the site of the annual American Academy of Neurology meeting, which is taking place April 9-16, 2005.
    As part of its new strategic direction, Questcor will initially focus its sales and marketing resources on promoting H.P. Acthar(R) Gel (repository corticotropin injection) to neurologists, who already account for most Acthar prescriptions but whose awareness of the product is still limited. H.P. Acthar Gel is currently the company's largest product in terms of sales, but has not been the focus of Questcor's recent marketing efforts. In addition, the company will pursue the licensing and acquisition of products which leverage Questcor's focused neurology efforts. The company also plans to begin building a development pipeline of new products that have the potential to address significant unmet medical needs in the CNS field, using both its own intellectual property and intellectual property licensed from other companies. The company is presently assessing a range of opportunities in order to address this important objective.
    "These major strategic changes will allow us to become an integrated specialty pharmaceutical company, focused in a dynamic area of medicine which holds great opportunity for improving patient outcomes. In doing so, Questcor will be able to focus its resources and build substantial expertise in one therapeutic area, achieving excellence in both product development and commercialization," said James L. Fares, Questcor's President and CEO. "Over the last few months, we have assembled a management team with a proven track record of success in developing and commercializing CNS products. We believe this will enable us to execute our new strategy," said Mr. Fares.
    Questcor will be hosting a conference call to discuss this new strategic direction on Wednesday, April 13, 2005 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time (10:30 a.m. Pacific Time). Please call the following numbers to participate: (800) 741-6056 (domestic) or (706) 679-3280 (international) and use conference ID number 5427109. Participants are asked to call the above numbers 5-10 minutes prior to the starting time.
    This call is being webcast by Thomson/CCBN and can be accessed at Questcor's website at www.questcor.com. The webcast is also being distributed through the Thomson StreetEvents Network to both institutional and individual investors. Individual investors can listen to the call at www.fulldisclosure.com, Thomson/CCBN's individual investor portal, powered by StreetEvents. Institutional investors can access the call via Thomson's password-protected event management site, StreetEvents (www.streetevents.com).
    A telephonic replay of this call will be available from 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, April 13, 2005 through 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, April 20, 2005. Please call (800) 642-1687 (domestic) or (706) 645-9291 (international) and use conference ID number 5427109.

    About Questcor

    Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc.(R) (AMEX:QSC) is a specialty pharmaceutical company that develops, acquires, markets and sells brand name prescription drugs for neurological and other uses through a U.S. direct sales force and international distributors. Questcor currently markets four products in the U.S.: H.P. Acthar(R) Gel (repository corticotropin injection), an injectable drug that is commonly used for certain neurological conditions; Nascobal(R), the only prescription nasal gel formulation of Cyanocobalamin USP (Vitamin B12), that is approved for patients with B12 deficiency caused by malabsorptive disorders resulting from structural or functional damage, such as bariatric surgery, Crohn's disease and certain neurological conditions; Ethamolin(R) (Ethanolamine Oleate), an injectable drug used to treat enlarged weakened blood vessels at the entrance to the stomach that have recently bled, known as esophageal varices; and Glofil-125(R), which is an injectable agent that assesses how well the kidney is working by measuring glomerular filtration rate, or kidney function.

    Note: Except for the historical information contained herein, this press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Such statements are subject to certain factors, which may cause Questcor's results to differ from those reported herein. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to, Questcor's ability to accurately forecast and create the demand for each of its products, the gross margins achieved from the sale of those products, Questcor's ability to enforce its exchange policy, the accuracy of the prescription data purchased from independent third parties by Questcor, the sell through by Questcor's distributors, the inventories carried by Questcor's distributors, and the expenses and other cash needs for the upcoming periods, Questcor's ability to obtain finished goods from its sole source contract manufacturers on a timely basis if at all, Questcor's need for additional funding, uncertainties regarding Questcor's intellectual property and other research, development, marketing and regulatory risks, and, to the ability of Questcor to implement its strategy and acquire products and, if acquired, to market them successfully as well as the risks discussed in Questcor's report on Form 10-K for the calendar year ended December 31, 2004 and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The risk factors and other information contained in these documents should be considered in evaluating Questcor's prospects and future financial performance.

    Questcor undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements, which may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

--30--JT/sf*

CONTACT: Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. James L. Fares, 510-400-0700

KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA FLORIDA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: PHARMACEUTICAL TRADESHOW PRODUCT CONFERENCE CALLS SOURCE: Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

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