Investors Led by The Frost Group Agree to Make $15 Million Investment in OPKO Health

OPKO Health, Inc. (AMEX:OPK) today announced that a group of investors led by members of The Frost Group, a private investment group controlled by Dr. Phillip Frost, M.D., Chairman and CEO of OPKO, have agreed to make a $15 million investment in the Company. Under the terms of the investment, OPKO will issue 13,513,514 shares of the Company’s common stock, at $1.11 per share, representing a 40% discount to the five-day average trading price of the stock on the American Stock Exchange. The shares issued in the investment will be restricted securities, subject to a two year lockup, and no registration rights have been granted. The Frost Group also includes Dr. Jane Hsiao, Vice Chairman and Chief Technical Officer of OPKO, Mr. Steven D. Rubin, the Company’s Executive Vice President-Administration, and Dr. Rao Uppaluri, the Company’s Chief Financial Officer. "This financing transaction provides the Company with additional financial resources to support bringing the Company’s projects and pipeline of novel drugs and ophthalmic products to market,” said Phillip Frost, M.D., Chairman and CEO. "We continue to believe OPKO has a strong development pipeline and support the Company’s efforts in bringing its products to the market.” The closing of the transaction will occur approximately twenty (20) days after the mailing of an information statement to stockholders, which the Company currently anticipates will be on or around September 10, 2008. The proceeds from the investment will be used to fund research and development efforts, including the ongoing Phase III trial for Bevasiranib and for general working capital. Bevasiranib is a first-in-class small interfering RNA (siRNA) drug designed to silence the genes that produce vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), believed to be largely responsible for the vision loss of wet AMD. Bevasiranib is the first therapy based on the Nobel Prize-winning RNA interference (RNAi) technology to advance to Phase III clinical trials. About OPKO Health, Inc. Miami-based OPKO is a specialty healthcare company. Its lead investigational drug, the gene silencing agent bevasiranib, is in Phase III trials after successfully completing Phase II trials for wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema. OPKO is developing a pipeline of novel agents for ophthalmic diseases, and it markets innovative diagnostic imaging systems that complement the company’s therapeutic products. For more information visit the company’s website at www.opko.com. This press release contains "forward-looking statements," as that term is defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA), which statements may be identified by words such as "expects," "plans," "projects," "will," "may," "anticipates," "believes," "should," "intends," "estimates," and other words of similar meaning, including statements regarding the potential benefits of bevasiranib, our ability to establish OPKO's leadership position, our ability to aggressively engage in R&D activities and advance clinical testing of bevasiranib and our ability to develop a preclinical pipeline of novel agents for ophthalmic diseases, the anticipated closing date for the investment, as well as other non-historical statements about our expectations, beliefs or intentions regarding our business, technologies and products, financial condition, strategies or prospects. Many factors could cause our actual activities or results to differ materially from the activities and results anticipated in forward-looking statements. These factors include those factors described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as risks inherent in funding, developing and obtaining regulatory approvals of new, commercially-viable and competitive products and treatments, including the risks that enrollment of patients for the Phase III clinical trial for bevasiranib, may not be successful, that the Phase III clinical trial itself may not be completed on a timely basis or at all, that any of our compounds under development, including bevasiranib, may fail, may not achieve the expected results or effectiveness and may not generate data that would support the approval or marketing of products for the indications being studied or for other indications. In addition, forward-looking statements may also be adversely affected by general market factors, competitive product development, product availability, federal and state regulations and legislation, the regulatory process for new products and indications, manufacturing issues that may arise, patent positions and litigation, among other factors. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date the statements were made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements. We intend that all forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor provisions of the PSLRA.