Par Enters Into Joint Development Agreement With Optimer

Par Pharmaceutical Companies today announced that it has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire a 16 percent partnership interest in Optimer Pharmaceuticals. Optimer is a privately held biotechnology company located in San Diego, California. The company was founded in 1998 by Michael Chang, Ph.D., Professor Chi-Huey Wong of Scripps Research Institute and Professor Samuel Danishefsky of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

PR Newswire (http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/05-03-2005/0003539206&EDATE=)