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NovaBay Pharmaceuticals to Receive Increase in Funding and Support From Alcon

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^{Published in Health and Fitness on Thursday, December 17th 2009 at 4:10 GMT by Market Wire}  

EMERYVILLE, CA--(Marketwire - December 17, 2009) - NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE Amex: [ NBY ]), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company creating a new class of anti-infectives for treating multi-drug resistant pathogens, announced today that effective immediately, its partner, Alcon Inc. (NYSE: [ ACL ]) has increased its on-going financial support of the company's research and development efforts by more than $2 million per year. The additional funding is expected to enhance NovaBay's pre-clinical and clinical development programs in the areas of eye, ear and sinus infections, as well as contact lens solutions.

Alcon is conducting Phase 2 trials of NovaBay's lead compound, NVC-422, for the treatment of viral conjunctivitis, a type of "Pink Eye." The viral conjunctivitis trials are under way at 30 medical centers around the U.S. and expect to enroll approximately 250 patients.

NovaBay has a licensing and research collaboration agreement with Alcon, the world's leading eye care company, for use of its Aganocide® compounds to develop new therapeutics to treat eye, ear and sinus infections, as well as develop new contact lens solutions. Developed by NovaBay to mimic the body's defense against infection, Aganocides are proprietary synthetic analogs of the molecules used by white blood cells to destroy harmful microbes in the body, such as viruses and bacteria.

About Alcon

Alcon, Inc. is the world's leading eye care company, with sales of approximately $6.3 billion in 2008. Alcon, which has been dedicated to the ophthalmic industry for more than 65 years, researches, develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products, surgical equipment and devices, contact lens care solutions and other vision care products that treat diseases, disorders and other conditions of the eye. For more information on Alcon, Inc., please visit [ www.alcon.com ].

About NovaBay

NovaBay Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing its proprietary and patented Aganocide compounds, which are novel, synthetic anti-infective product candidates that are bioequivalent to the active antimicrobial molecules generated within white blood cells. NovaBay's Aganocides are being developed to treat and prevent a wide range of infections without causing bacterial resistance. NovaBay has internal development programs aimed at addressing hospital and respiratory infections. The company has a licensing and research collaboration agreement with Alcon, Inc. for use of its Aganocide compounds to treat eye, ear and sinus infections as well as in contact lens care solutions. NovaBay has also entered into an agreement with Galderma S.A. to develop and commercialize Aganocides in acne, impetigo and other dermatological indications. NovaBay™ and Aganocide® are trademarks of NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. For more information on NovaBay, visit: [ www.novabaypharma.com ].

Cautionary Information Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The statements in this press release regarding NovaBay's expectations of Alcon's funding to accelerate development of pre-clinical and clinical development programs in the areas of eye, ear and sinus infections are forward-looking statements subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may be different than those NovaBay expects due to a number of factors, including the risk that actual results from the development programs could cause Alcon to curtail its funding, as well as risks relating to NovaBay and its Aganocide compounds detailed in NovaBay's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, under the caption "Risk Factors" in Item 1A of Part II of that report, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 12, 2009.