Priority Healthcare Corporation Is The Preferred Specialty Distributor And Pharmacy Provider Of Novartis' Visudyne For Age-Relat

Priority Healthcare Corporation Is The Preferred Specialty Distributor And
Pharmacy Provider Of Novartis' Visudyne For Age-Related Macular Degeneration 


LAKE MARY, Fla., Dec. 8  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Priority Healthcare
Corporation  has signed an agreement with Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation 
to be a preferred specialty distributor and the preferred specialty pharmacy
provider of Visudyne(R) (verteporfin) beginning January 1, 2004.  Visudyne is
the first FDA approved drug therapy for patients with some forms of age-related
macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of vision loss in people over 50.

"We are very pleased to become the preferred specialty distributor and pharmacy
provider for Visudyne therapy, a breakthrough in the treatment of AMD.  With the
addition of the Visudyne program, ophthalmology has the potential to become a
significant specialty focus for Priority.  Visudyne is a great example of a
manufacturer directing currently available medications to the specialty channel
and specifically to Priority Healthcare," said Steve Cosler, President and CEO
of Priority Healthcare.

"We are excited to add Visudyne to the portfolio of products we distribute for
Novartis.  This new program enables us to build upon our strong presence in eye
surgery centers and broaden Priority's presence in ophthalmology," added Guy
Bryant, Executive Vice President and General Manager for Distribution Services
at Priority Healthcare.  "With the aging of the Baby Boomer generation, the
National Eye Institute predicts that blindness from age-related diseases will
double over the next 30 years.  This dramatic increase heightens the need to
provide specialty services to the AMD patient population and meet the growing
needs of the retina specialists who treat them."

Age-related macular degeneration is the most common cause of vision loss in the
United States in persons 50 and older, and its prevalence increases with age. 
It is also the leading cause of irreversible visual impairment in the elderly,
with over 30 million people estimated to suffer from AMD worldwide.  Visudyne is
the first FDA approved medication to treat wet AMD. Wet AMD affects
approximately 10-15% of the patient population and is characterized by the
development of new blood vessels forming behind the retina.  While it cannot
completely restore full vision, Visudyne therapy has the potential to halt the
disease and provide some visual improvement.

About Priority Healthcare Corporation

Priority Healthcare Corporation is a national specialty pharmacy and distributor
that provides biopharmaceuticals, complex therapies, and related disease
treatment programs and services.  Priority Healthcare provides comprehensive
programs for patients, payors, physicians, and pharmaceutical manufacturers for
a growing number of disease states including cancer, hepatitis C, respiratory
and pulmonary conditions, infertility, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia,
multiple sclerosis and ophthalmology.  Additional information regarding Priority
Healthcare is available at http://www.priorityhealthcare.com/

Certain statements included in this press release, which are not historical
facts, are forward-looking statements.  Such forward-looking statements are made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995.  These forward-looking statements represent our expectations
or beliefs and involve certain risks and uncertainties, including those
described in our public filings with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission; also including, but not limited to, changes in interest rates,
competitive pressures, changes in customer mix, changes in third party
reimbursement rates, financial stability of major customers, changes in
government regulations or the interpretation of these regulations, changes in
supplier relationships, growth opportunities, cost savings, revenue
enhancements, synergies and other benefits anticipated from acquisition
transactions, difficulties relative to integrating acquired businesses, the
accounting and tax treatment of acquisitions, and asserted and unasserted
claims, which could cause actual results to differ from those in the
forward-looking statements.  The forward-looking statements by their nature
involve substantial risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond our
control, and actual results may differ materially depending on a variety of
important factors.  You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date herein. 

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DATASOURCE: Priority Healthcare Corporation



CONTACT:  Stephen Saft, Chief Financial Officer, [phone], or

Kirsten Ayars, Public Relations Manager, [phone], both of Priority

Healthcare



Web site:  http://www.priorityhealthcare.com/ 

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