Cornerstone Therapeutics Joins the Russell 300...( CARY N.C. June 30 /- Cornerstone Ther...),Health

CARY, N.C., June 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cornerstone Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: CRTX), a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on acquiring, developing and commercializing significant products primarily for the respiratory and related markets, today announced that it has been added to the Russell 3000 Index following Russell Investments' reconstitution of its comprehensive set of U.S. and global equity indexes on June 26, 2009. Cornerstone was also added to the Russell Microcap(R) Index.

Annual reconstitution of Russell's U.S. indexes captures the 4,000 largest U.S. stocks as of the end of May, ranking them by total market capitalization. Membership in the Russell 3000 Index, which remains in place for one year, means automatic inclusion in the small-cap Russell 2000 Index, as well as the appropriate growth and value style indexes. Russell determines membership for its equity indexes primarily by objective, market-capitalization rankings and style attributes. The Russell 3000 Index also serves as the U.S. component to the Russell Global Index, which Russell launched in 2007.

"We believe that this most recent accomplishment, on the heels of our agreement with Chiesi, is a strong indicator that the Company's focus on the respiratory market to generate profitable growth is beginning to gain traction with investors," said Craig A. Collard, Cornerstone's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We expect that the addition of Cornerstone to the Russell 3000 Index will increase our visibility among investors, provide an opportunity to broaden our shareholder base and, ultimately, advance our efforts to enhance shareholder value."

Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for both passive and active investment strategies. An industry-l
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