Cornerstone Therapeutics Provides Update on FDA Advisory Committee Discussion of Lixivaptan

Cornerstone Therapeutics Provides Update on FDA Advisory Committee Discussion of Lixivaptan

CARY, NC--(Marketwire - Sep 13, 2012) - Cornerstone Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CRTX), a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on commercializing products for the hospital and related specialty markets, announced today the Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee (CRDAC) of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended against the approval of the Company's New Drug Application (NDA) for lixivaptan (CRTX 080) for the treatment of symptomatic hypervolemic and euvolemic hyponatremia associated with heart failure and syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH), respectively.

In March 2012, Cornerstone announced the FDA's acceptance of the Company's NDA for lixivaptan. The FDA has assigned a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) goal date of October 29, 2012. The FDA takes the advisory committee's advice into consideration as part of its review of the NDA but is not bound by the committee's recommendations.

"While we respect the views of the CRDAC, we view today as another step in the process of bringing lixivaptan to market for patients with hyponatremia using the established surrogate endpoint of serum sodium correction," said Craig A. Collard, Cornerstone's Chief Executive Officer. "Cornerstone is committed to continuing to work with the FDA throughout the approval process building upon meeting our primary endpoint in each pivotal Phase 3 trial."

Hyponatremia affects up to six million people in the U.S. with direct medical costs estimated to range between $1.6 and $3.6 billion annually. Lixivaptan is a highly potent, non-peptide, oral capsule that works by reducing the action of a hormone (vasopressin) that blocks fluid excretion. Lixivaptan acts specifically on the vasopressin-2 receptor in the kidneys, causing water to be excreted while sparing sodium without affecting other electrolytes.

About Hyponatremia
Hyponatremia is a metabolic condition that occurs when there is not enough sodium (salt) in the blood. It is the most common electrolyte disorder among hospitalized patients affecting up to six million people in the U.S. and is often diagnosed in patients with heart failure. In the U.S. alone, there are five million heart failure patients, and each year one-fourth of them develop hyponatremia. Other causes of hyponatremia include burns, diuretic medications, kidney disease, liver cirrhosis and syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH).

About Cornerstone Therapeutics
Cornerstone Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CRTX), headquartered in Cary, N.C., is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on commercializing products for the hospital, niche respiratory and related specialty markets. Key elements of the Company's strategy are to focus its commercial and development efforts in the hospital and related specialty product sector within the U.S. pharmaceutical marketplace; continue to seek out opportunities to acquire companies and marketed and/or registration-stage products that fit within the Company's focus areas; and generate revenues by marketing approved generic products through the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Aristos Pharmaceuticals, Inc. For more information, visit www.crtx.com.

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Statements in this press release regarding the progress and timing of our product development programs and related trials; our future opportunities; our strategy, future operations and opportunities, including our plans regarding the manner and timing for the manufacture and sale of our newly-acquired cardiovascular products, anticipated financial position, future revenues and projected costs; our management's prospects, plans and objectives; and any other statements about management's future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans or prospects constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

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There are a number of important factors that could cause our actual results or events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, including risks relating to our "critical accounting estimates"; our ability to develop and maintain the necessary sales, marketing, supply chain, distribution and manufacturing capabilities to commercialize our products; our ability to replace the revenues from our marketed unapproved products, which we ceased manufacturing and distributing at the end of 2010, our propoxyphene products, which we voluntarily withdrew from the U.S. market in November 2010 at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, and our anti-infective products, which we divested in March 2012; the adverse impact of returns of previously sold inventory; patient, physician and third-party payer acceptance of our products as safe and effective therapeutic products; our heavy dependence on the commercial success of a relatively small number of currently marketed products; our ability to maintain regulatory approvals to market and sell our products; our ability to obtain FDA approval to manufacture, market and sell our products and product candidates, including our lixivaptan compound, CRTX 080, and RETAVASE; our ability to enter into additional strategic licensing, product acquisition, collaboration or co-promotion transactions on favorable terms, if at all; our ability to manage and control unknown liabilities in connection with any acquisitions; our ability to successfully manage growth or integrate acquired businesses and operations; our ability to maintain compliance with NASDAQ listing requirements; adverse side effects experienced by patients taking our products; difficulties relating to clinical trials, including difficulties or delays in the completion of patient enrollment, data collection or data analysis; the results of preclinical studies and clinical trials with respect to our product candidates and whether such results will be indicative of results obtained in later clinical trials; our ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates before our competitors develop and commercialize competing products; our ability to satisfy FDA and other regulatory requirements; our substantial indebtedness and debt covenants; and our ability to obtain, maintain and enforce patent and other intellectual property protection for our products and product candidates and the other factors described in Item 1A (Risk Factors) of our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 6, 2012 and in our subsequent filings with the SEC. If one or more of these factors materialize, or if any underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results, performance or achievements may vary materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

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