EXHIBIT 99.1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE               CONTACT:  Robert Ruscher
                                              650-849-5900




                    SALIX PHARMACEUTICALS ADOPTS SHAREHOLDERS
                             RIGHTS PROTECTION PLAN

PALO ALTO, CA, JANUARY 17, 2000, -- Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (TSE: SLX) has
announced that its Board of Directors has approved the adoption of a
Shareholders' Rights Protection Plan, the purpose of which is to protect the
Company's shareholders from unfair or coercive take-over strategies, including
the acquisition of control of the Company through a take-over bid that does not
treat all shareholders equally or fairly or that does not provide fair value to
all shareholders in respect to their shares.

Under the Plan the rights will become exercisable if a person acquires, on or
after January 13, 2000, more than 20% of the common shares of the Company other
than pursuant to a Permitted Bid. Generally, to make a Permitted Bid, among
other things, the bidder must make a take-over bid for all outstanding common
shares of the Company, and the bid must be open for acceptance for not less than
60 days. The Rights Plan is not being adopted in response to any effort to
acquire control of the Company and the Board is not aware of any such effort.

The Rights Plan is subject to the approval of The Toronto Stock Exchange. The
Company will comply with all requirements imposed by the Exchange in respect of
the Rights Plan.

Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. develops and markets prescription pharmaceutical
products for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. Salix's strategy is to
in-license proprietary therapeutic drugs with an existing database of positive,
late-stage clinical data in humans, complete the development and market these
products. Salix's lead product is Colazide, a treatment for ulcerative colitis.
The product was first approved by the United Kingdom Medicines Control Agency in
July 1997 as a treatment for acute ulcerative colitis and has since also been
approved




for use in the maintenance of remission of ulcerative colitis. Colazide
has also been approved in Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark,
Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. Salix submitted a New Drug
Application (NDA) to the United States FDA for the use of balsalazide disodium
as a treatment for acute ulcerative colitis and received an approvable letter
from the FDA in June 1998.

Additionally, Salix is in Phase III clinical development of rifaximin, a
broad-spectrum gastrointestinal specific antibiotic, licensed from Alfa
Wassermann, S.p.A., an Italian company. Rifaximin has been marketed in Italy by
Alfa Wassermann for several years and is used for several gastrointestinal
conditions including hepatic encephalopathy, infectious diarrhea and prophylaxis
prior to bowel surgery.

The statements in this press release that are not purely statements of
historical fact are forward-looking statements, and actual results may differ
materially from those anticipated. With respect to Salix, important factors that
could cause results to differ include risks associated with anti-takeover
measures like the Shareholder Rights Plan. These and other factors are described
in more detail in Salix's reports on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the
date hereof. Salix assumes no obligation to update the information in this
release.


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