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Akorn, Inc. (AMEX:AKN) today announced that effective July 1, 2006, it has joined the Russell 3000(R) Index. Membership in the Russell 3000(R) Index, which remains in place for one year, means automatic inclusion in the large-cap Russell 1000(R) Index or small-cap Russell 2000(R) Index as well as the appropriate growth and style indexes. Russell determines membership for its equity indexes primarily by objective, market capitalization rankings and style attributes. Arthur S. Przybyl, Akorn's President and Chief Executive Officer stated, "We are pleased with our inclusion in the Russell 3000(R) Index. Our inclusion will help generate greater interest in our Akorn stock at the institutional level." Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for both passive and active investment strategies. An industry-leading $3.8 trillion in assets currently are benchmarked to them. Investment managers who oversee these funds purchase shares of member stocks according to that company's weighting in the particular index. Annual reconstitution of Russell indexes captures the 3,000 largest U.S. stocks as of the end of May, ranking them by total market capitalization to create the Russell 3000. The largest 1,000 companies in the ranking comprise the Russell 1000 while the remaining 2,000 companies become the widely used Russell 2000. These investment tools originated from Russell's multi-manager investment business in the early 1980s when the company saw the need for a more objective, market-driven set of benchmarks in order to evaluate outside investment managers. Russell, a global leader in multi-manager investment services, provides investment products and services in 44 countries. Russell manages more than $167 billion in assets and advises clients worldwide representing $2.4 trillion. Founded in 1936, Russell is a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual and is headquartered in Tacoma, Wash., with additional offices in New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Singapore, Sydney, Auckland and Tokyo. For more information, go to www.russell.com. 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 www.akorn.com. Materials in this press release may contain information that includes or is based upon forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements give our expectations or forecasts of future events. You can identify these statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They use words such as "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with a discussion of future operating or financial performance. In particular, these include statements relating to future steps we may take, prospective products, future performance or results of current and anticipated products, sales efforts, expenses, the outcome of contingencies such as legal proceedings, and financial results. Any or all of our forward-looking statements here or in other publications may turn out to be wrong. They can be affected by inaccurate assumptions or by known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Many such factors will be important in determining our actual future results. Consequently, no forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Our actual results may vary materially, and there are not guarantees about the performance of our stock. Any forward-looking statements represent our expectations or forecasts only as of the date they were made and should not be relied upon as representing our expectations or forecasts as of any subsequent date. We undertake no obligation to correct or update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, even if our expectations or forecasts change. You are advised, however, to consult any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our reports filed with the SEC. In particular, you should read the discussion in the section entitled "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, as it may be updated in subsequent reports filed with the SEC. That discussion covers certain risks, uncertainties and possibly inaccurate assumptions that could cause our actual results to differ materially from expected and historical results. Such factors include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties relating to the resolution of the FDA compliance issues at our Decatur, Illinois manufacturing facility. Other factors besides those listed there could also adversely affect our results.