FORM 8-K

                      SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                            WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

                                CURRENT REPORT

                    Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
                        Securities Exchange Act of 1934
               Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported):
                                 May 11, 1999

                      ROBERTS PHARMACEUTICAL CORPORATION
            ------------------------------------------------------
            (exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


        New Jersey                      1-1-432                 22-2429994
     ---------------                  ------------           -------------
     (State or other                  Commission             (IRS Employer
     jurisdiction of                  File Number)            Identification
     incorporation)                                           Number)


                              Meridian Center II
                             4 Industrial Way West
                          Eatontown, New Jersey 07724
                          ---------------------------
         (Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)



       Registrant's telephone number, including area code:  732-676-1200









         (Former name or former address, if changed from last report)

 
                                      -2-

Item 5. Other Events
        ------------

                Roberts Pharmaceutical Corporation announced today an agreement 
for a strategic alliance with Gynetics Inc. (Belle Mead, NJ) whereby Roberts 
received exclusive Canadian marketing rights to PREVEN/TM/, the new Emergency 
Contraceptive Kit developed by Gynetics. Under the terms of the six-year 
agreement, Roberts and Gynetics will enter into a 50/50 profit sharing 
arrangement for PREVEN/TM/ in Canada.

        Roberts expects to introduce PREVEN/TM/ into the Canadian market in 
the near term. The Company expects this transaction to be additive to earnings 
with some modest benefit possible in the current year. Roberts anticipates 
increasing contributions to profitability as Canadian sales of PREVEN/TM/ ramp 
up.

        The pills in the PREVEN/TM/ kit contain special doses of the hormones 
progestin (0.25mg levonorgestrel) and estrogen (0.05mg ethinyl estradiol) that 
prevent pregnancy when taken as soon as possible within 72 hours after known or 
suspected contraceptive failure or unprotected sexual relations. A prescription 
product, PREVEN/TM/ has been developed to prevent a pregnancy from starting and 
it will not effect an existing pregnancy. The product is not an abortion pill.

        PREVEN/TM/ was approved for U.S. marketing in late 1998 as the first 
emergency contraceptive kit and recently approved by the Canadian regulatory 
authorities.

        The Company stated that PREVEN/TM/ represents a strategic fit with the 
strong women's healthcare franchise established by Roberts Pharmaceutical 
Canada Inc.

                                  SIGNATURES

        Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

                               ROBERTS PHARMACEUTICAL CORPORATION
                               ----------------------------------
                                              (Registrant)



Date: May 12, 1999             /s/ Anthony A. Rascio
                               ------------------------------
                               Anthony A. Rascio
                               Vice President

 
                                      -3-





FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

        Certain statements included in Item 5 of this form 8-K are intended 
to be, and are hereby identified as, forward looking statements for purposes of 
the safe harbor provided by Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 
as amended, and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The 
Registrant cautions readers that forward looking statements, including, without 
limitation, those relating to the Registrant's future business prospects, 
revenues, cost of sales, intangible dispositions and write-offs, continuing 
operations and discontinued operations, and liquidity and capital resources, are
subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, the 
ability of the Registrant to secure regulatory approval in the United States and
in foreign jurisdictions for the Registrant's developmental pipeline drugs, the
efforts of the Registrant's competitors and the introduction of rival 
pharmaceutical products which may prove to be more effective than the 
Registrant's products, general market conditions, the availability of capital, 
and the uncertainty over the future direction of the healthcare industry, that 
could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the 
forward looking statements.