INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT To the Board of Directors of Dura Pharmaceuticals, Inc.: We have audited the consolidated statements of operations, stockholders' equity and cash flows of Dura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and subsidiaries (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Elan corporation, plc) (the "Company") for the year ended December 31, 2000. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion. In our opinion, such consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the results of the Company's operations and its cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2000 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. /s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP San Diego, California January 16, 2001