Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that it will receive a $5 million milestone payment under its agreement with Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc. for sumatriptan injection. Sumatriptan injection is a prescription medicine for the acute treatment of migraine attacks. The branded product, Imitrex, is marketed by GlaxoSmithKline.

"The tentative approval of sumatriptan injection and the subsequent payment we will receive from PAR Pharmaceutical is yet another milestone achieved by our team in the past couple of months, and is further validation of the strength of our business model. This cash infusion is consistent with our mission to bring funds into the company without unnecessarily diluting our current investors," stated Rajesh C Shrotriya, M.D., chairman, chief executive officer and president of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. "Our partner for sumatriptan injection, PAR Pharmaceutical, is responsible for the sale and distribution of the drug and we will receive the majority of profits from the sale of this product."

Earlier this year, Spectrum formed a strategic alliance with PAR Pharmaceutical for the sale and distribution of some of its generic drugs. The terms of the agreement stated that Spectrum would receive certain milestone payments on achievement of specified regulatory approvals and that Spectrum and PAR would share the profits from the sale of Spectrum's generic products. In addition, PAR agreed to make an equity investment in Spectrum by early 2008. The amended agreement states that Spectrum will receive a $5 million payment from PAR related to sumatriptan injection, which was granted tentative approval by the FDA in October 2006, in satisfaction of any future milestone or equity commitment by Par.

Therefore, Spectrum will not issue any shares of its common stock to PAR Pharmaceutical in relation to this milestone payment or any other transaction. In addition, Par will focus solely on the marketing and distribution of sumatriptan injection pursuant to the amended agreement.