Akorn, Inc. Names Jeffrey A. Whitnell as Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer

    BUFFALO GROVE, Ill., June 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Akorn, Inc.
 (OTC Bulletin Board:   AKRN) today announced the appointment of Jeffrey A.
 Whitnell as Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer.  Mr. Whitnell
 has over twenty-five years of financial experience in specialty
 pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and chemical manufacturing operations.
     Before joining Akorn, Mr. Whitnell served as Vice President of Finance and
 Treasurer with Ovation Pharmaceuticals, Inc.  Prior experience includes senior
 financial management roles with MediChem Life Sciences, and progressively
 responsible financial positions with Akzo Nobel, Motorola, and Arthur
 Andersen.
     Mr. Whitnell is a certified public accountant who holds a Bachelor of
 Science degree in Accounting from the University of Illinois, Champaign-
 Urbana, and a Master of Business Administration degree in Finance from the
 University of Chicago.
     Arthur S. Przybyl, Akorn's president and chief executive officer, stated,
 "We are very excited to have Jeff join our team and are confident that his
 extensive financial background, developed through the course of his extensive
 and diversified career with both entrepreneurial and multi-national
 organizations, will be a great asset for Akorn."
     Separately, the Company announced that Ben Pothast, Senior Vice President,
 Finance and Chief Financial Officer, was leaving to pursue other
 opportunities.
     "We thank Ben for his contribution to the Company and wish him the very
 best in all his future endeavors." Mr. Przybyl said.
 
     About Akorn, Inc.
     Akorn, Inc. manufactures and markets sterile specialty pharmaceuticals.
 Akorn has manufacturing facilities located in Decatur, Illinois and Somerset,
 New Jersey and markets and distributes an extensive line of hospital and
 ophthalmic pharmaceuticals.  Additional information is available at the
 Company's website at http://www.akorn.com.
 
     Any statements made by Akorn, Inc. ("we," "us," "our," "Akorn" or the
 "Company") in this press release that are forward looking are made pursuant to
 the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
 1995. The Company cautions readers that important factors may affect the
 Company's actual results and could cause such results to differ materially
 from forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company. Such
 factors include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties relating to
 (i) the ability to generate cash from operations sufficient to meet the
 Company's working capital requirements, (ii) the necessity of complying with
 various regulatory procedures in the manufacture of drug products, (iii) the
 Company's ability to acquire, develop, finance, test, produce and market new
 products, including the availability of materials to produce products, (iv)
 the resolution of the FDA compliance issues at the Company's Decatur, Illinois
 manufacturing facility and the outcome of other legal proceedings involving
 the Company, (v) patent protection for the Company's intellectual property or
 trade secrets, and (vi) other risks detailed from time to time in filings the
 Company makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission including, but not
 limited to, those risks referenced under the caption "Factors That May Affect
 Future Results" in Item 1 of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
 fiscal year ended December 31, 2003.
 
 

SOURCE  Akorn, Inc.