Press Releases

Initiating $50 Million Share Buy-Back Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL 28, 2005

VANCOUVER, CANADA—QLT Inc. (NASDAQ: QLTI; TSX: QLT) today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2005. Unless specified otherwise, all amounts are in U.S. dollars and in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

2005 Q1 Sales
Visudyne® worldwide sales for the first quarter were $123.7 million, an increase of 22.5% over the first quarter of 2004. Visudyne sales in the U.S. for the quarter were $51.3 million, up 13% over the same period last year. Visudyne sales in the rest of the world were $72.4 million, an increase of 30% over the same period last year.

Eligard® worldwide sales for the first quarter were $17.9 million, essentially flat from the first quarter of 2004. Eligard sales in the U.S. for the quarter were $10.6 million, down 33% over the same period last year. Eligard sales in the rest of the world were $7.3 million, an increase of 246% over $2.1 million in the first quarter last year.

Sales of dermatology products for the first quarter were $2.3 million compared to $0.3 million in the same period last year.

2005 Q1 Results

Diluted Earnings Per Share (EPS)
Non-GAAP EPS, which excludes the restructuring charge and amortization of acquired intangible assets, was $0.19 in the first quarter, while GAAP EPS was $0.16. A reconciliation between non-GAAP EPS and GAAP EPS is provided in Exhibit 1 of this press release.

For the first quarter 2004, non-GAAP EPS, excluding the charge for amortization of intangibles, was $0.11, while GAAP EPS was $0.34 including the extraordinary gain, or $0.19 excluding the gain.

Prior year GAAP results reflect operations before our merger with Atrix Laboratories in the fourth quarter last year, and do not necessarily provide the most appropriate comparison for our 2005 results. Therefore, we have provided non-GAAP (adjusted pro forma) results, which reflect ongoing results as if the merger had occurred just prior to January 1, 2004. A reconciliation between non-GAAP results and GAAP results for the first quarter of 2004 is provided in Exhibit 2.

The increase from non-GAAP EPS of $0.11 in the first quarter of 2004 to $0.19 in 2005 was primarily attributable to growth in Visudyne revenue, as well as lower operating expenses.

"We are pleased with our performance in this quarter with both Visudyne sales and EPS and remain on track to achieve our annual financial guidance," said Paul Hastings, President and CEO. "We are also announcing today the initiation of a share buy-back program because we believe that the current price of the stock does not reflect the achievements and prospects of the Company and therefore represents an excellent investment opportunity."

QLT Revenues
The Company’s revenues reached $64 million in the first quarter, up 55% from revenues in the same period last year, and up 18% compared to non-GAAP revenues in the same period last year.

Revenues from Visudyne were $50 million in the quarter, up 23% from $41 million in the first quarter last year, primarily due to strong top-line Visudyne performance. QLT’s share of profit from Visudyne sales increased from 31.8% to 33.2% compared to the same period last year.

Research and Development (R&D) Expense
R&D expense in the first quarter was $16.4 million, up $7 million from R&D expense in the first quarter last year primarily due to R&D related to former Atrix. R&D expense was down $1.1 million from non-GAAP R&D expense of $17.5 million last year, primarily due to lower spending on clinical trials that have been completed (Eligard six-month, Aczone).

Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) Expense
For the first quarter of 2005, SG&A expense was $5.4 million, up $0.6 million from prior year first quarter expense, but down $1.8 million from 2004 non-GAAP SG&A expense. This decrease occurred primarily due to lower compensation costs and timing of allocations to R&D.

Cash and Short-term Investments
The company’s cash and short-term investments increased from $380 million to $408 million during the first quarter of 2005.

Share Buy-Back Program
Over a two-year period QLT intends to purchase up to $50 million worth of its own common shares. The share purchases will be made as a normal course issuer bid, whereby the Company will purchase for cancellation up to $50 million worth of common shares, subject to regulatory requirements. The bid will commence upon regulatory approval. All purchases will be effected in the open market through the facilities of The Toronto Stock Exchange and/or the Nasdaq Stock Market in accordance with the rules of those markets.

TAP Litigation
QLT also announces the outcome of a nullity action brought by MediGene AG, one of our Eligard marketing partners in Europe, in the German Federal Patent Court with respect to the German part of European Patent EP 0 202 065 (the "'065 patent"). On April 20, the Federal Patent Court nullified all the claims of the '065 patent alleged by Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd., Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd., and Takeda GmbH to be infringed by MediGene AG and Yamanouchi Pharma GmbH in a suit filed in the Regional Court Dusseldorf.

Financial Tables
To view the financial tables included in this news release, click here.

About QLT
QLT Inc. is a global biopharmaceutical company specializing in developing treatments for cancer, eye diseases, dermatological and urological conditions. We have combined our expertise in the discovery, development, commercialization and manufacture of innovative drug therapies with our unique technology platforms to create highly successful products such as Visudyne® and Eligard®. For more information, visit our web site at www.qltinc.com.

QLT Inc. will hold an analyst and institutional investor conference call to discuss first quarter results on April 28th at 8:30 a.m. EDT (5:30 a.m. PDT). The call will be broadcast live via the Internet at www.qltinc.com. A replay of the call will be available via the Internet and also via telephone at 1-800-374-8183, access code 5540623.

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QLT Inc.:
Vancouver, Canada
Tamara Hicks
Telephone: 604-707-7000 or 1-800-663-5486
Fax: 604-707-7001

Visudyne is a registered trademark of Novartis AG.
Eligard is a registered trademark of Sanofi-aventis

QLT Inc. is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the trading symbol "QLTI" and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol "QLT."

A full explanation of how the Company determines and recognizes revenue from Visudyne and Eligard sales is contained in the financial statements contained in the Company’s annual and periodic reports. Visudyne sales are product sales by Novartis under its alliance with QLT. Eligard sales are product sales by third parties pursuant to contractual agreements with the Company.

The first quarter financial results for QLT in this press release are preliminary and unaudited and are not a complete disclosure of our quarterly financial results. Certain statements in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements” of QLT within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the statements as to the Company’s intention to purchase its common shares and the Company’s expectation that it is on track to achieve the sales and revenue guidance figures previously released These statements are only predictions and there are a number of risks , uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual events or results may differ materially, including but not limited to: the risk that future sales of Visudyne, Eligard and our other products may be less than expected due to increased competition or for other reasons, our future operating results are uncertain and likely to fluctuate, currency fluctuations in our primary markets may impact our financial results, uncertainty of and timing of pricing and reimbursement may limit the future sales of our products, clinical development programs may not be successful, the outcome of the pending patent and securities litigation against us may be unfavorable and have an adverse impact on our financial results, we are dependent on third-parties to commercialise Visudyne, Eligard and our other products, our intention to purchase our common shares is subject to regulatory approval and the extent to which the Company does so will be impacted by market factors, and other factors described in detail in QLT’s Annual Information Form and Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian securities regulatory authorities. Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and QLT assumes no obligation to update such information to reflect later events or developments, except as required by law.