IVAX Reports Results For Second Quarter 2005; Revenues Up 24% To $577.3 Million; Net Income $45.6 Million; EPS $0.17

Business Wire, August 1, 2005

MIAMI -- IVAX Corporation (AMEX:IVX) (LSE:IVX.L) (WSE:IVX) reported second quarter 2005 net revenues of $577.3 million, a 24% increase over net revenues of $464.0 million in the second quarter 2004. Net income in the second quarter 2005 was $45.6 million. Earnings per share was $0.17 for the second quarter 2005. Net income in the second quarter 2004 was $48.1 million and earnings per share $0.18.

Neil Flanzraich, vice chairman and president of IVAX Corporation, said, "These results were consistent with our expectations for the quarter and above our expectations for the first half of the year. Our income before income taxes for the second quarter of this year was $65.1 million compared to $58.2 million in the second quarter of 2004. Our net income for this quarter was impacted by a significantly higher income tax rate of approximately 30% as compared to a 17% tax rate for the comparable quarter in 2004.

"We expect our second half of 2005 to be significantly stronger and confirm our earnings guidance of $0.76 - $0.86 per share. We believe our earnings for the full year will be in the middle to upper end of this range. We also confirm our 2006 guidance of $1.35 - $1.55 per share. Not included in this guidance is profit from our sale of our generic version of Zocor(R), which we expect to launch in the middle of 2006. We continue to believe that we should be granted a six month period of exclusivity for our generic version of Zocor, which would provide very considerable upside to our guidance. Of course, our guidance for 2005 and 2006 must be qualified by any impact of our recently (July 25, 2005) announced agreement with Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd (Nasdaq:TEVA) providing for the acquisition of IVAX by Teva. We are currently preparing the proxy material to be filed with the SEC in order to obtain shareholder approval for this agreement.

"IVAX achieved substantial revenue growth in all its major business regions in the second quarter of 2005 over the same period last year. North American revenues increased 14% from $228.3 million to $261.0 million. European revenues increased 15% from $171.6 million to $197.0 million and Latin American revenues increased 29% from $76.0 million to $98.4 million.

"Our U.S. generics business was the major contributor to the 14% North American growth during the second quarter. We had 6 generic product approvals and launches, one tentative approval and we became the authorized distributor of generic equivalents of two important products, OMJ Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s Ultracet(R) and Purdue Pharma's OxyContin(R). We expect a significant number of additional generic approvals during the remainder of the year and on July 29, 2005 we announced that we are the authorized distributor of the generic equivalent of Purdue Pharma's MS Contin(R) Tablets.

"IVAX' branded respiratory product, albuterol sulfate HFA (CFC-free) in a standard metered dose inhaler, launched in the fourth quarter of 2004, is presently vying for the number one market share position among HFA albuterol products. We believe that our breath actuated inhaler product, when approved, will permit us to obtain a more significant part of the large albuterol inhaler market.

"Our animal health business has recently been expanded with the May 11, 2005 completion of our acquisition of Phoenix Scientific, Inc., the largest generic veterinary pharmaceutical company in the United States. We expect our veterinary subsidiary formed from this merger, IVX Animal Health, Inc., to be a significant contributor.

"IVAX' European revenues 15% growth came from the continued success of many of our Central and Eastern European operations, contributions from our Polish pharmaceutical company, Polfa Kutno, acquired in the fourth quarter 2004, continued growth of QVAR sales and IVAX' first-to-market launch of Nasofan, the generic equivalent of Flonase(R), in the United Kingdom, where it has established a 44% market share.

"Our Latin American revenues grew 29%. This is the ninth consecutive quarter IVAX' Latin American operations have achieved year-over-year, quarterly revenue growth. Our units in Venezuela, Chile, Argentina and Peru and our recently acquired (second quarter 2004) Peruvian pharmacy chain, BTL, made significant contributions to that growth.

"During the second quarter 2005, IVAX spent 25% more on marketing and sales and 7% more on general and administrative expenses than the second quarter 2004. These expense increases were primarily related to recently acquired businesses: Medco and BTL in the second quarter 2004, Polfa Kutno in the fourth quarter 2004 and Phoenix Scientific on May 11, 2005. R&D expenditures in the second quarter 2005 were 7% lower than in the second quarter 2004."

IVAX will conduct a conference call at 10:30 A.M. Eastern Time (Miami) to discuss the second quarter, as well as other topics. Interested parties can access the conference call by dialing 1-800-288-8975 from anywhere in the U.S. or by dialing 612-332-0932 from non-U.S. locations. The conference call will also be webcast. To access and register for the webcast, go to IVAX' website at http://www.ivax.com at least fifteen minutes before the 10:30 A.M. conference call and click on the webcast link on IVAX' home page.