<PAGE>

                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549


                      ------------------------------------

                                    FORM 8-K

                                 CURRENT REPORT
                       PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF
                      THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

       Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): August 12, 2005

                         Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               (Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

        Delaware                     0-15313                 13-3033811
--------------------------    --------------------       ----------------------
 (State or other juris-            (Commission              (IRS Employer
diction of incorporation          File Number)           Identification No.)


                          One Tower Center, 14th Floor
                        East Brunswick, New Jersey 08816
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
              (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
       Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (732) 418-9300

                                 Not applicable
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         (Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

         Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to
simultaneously satisfy the obligation of the registrant under any of the
following provisions:

|_|      Written communication pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17
         CFR 230.425)

|_|      Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17
         CFR 240.14a-12)

|_|      Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the
         Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2{b))

|_|      Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the
         Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

<PAGE>
ITEM 4.02. NON-RELIANCE ON PREVIOUSLY ISSUED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OR A RELATED
AUDIT REPORT OR COMPLETED INTERIM REVIEW.

         (a) As previously announced, in connection with the Company's
announcement of its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2005, the
Company determined that it had made an error in recording its reserve for
returns in the first quarter of 2005. The Company determines its reserves for
sales returns based, in part, on notifications received from customers advising
the Company through its third-party fulfillment center of their intent to return
product. The Company subsequently determined that certain of those reported
returns were in error in that actual units of product returned were
significantly less than the amounts originally expected to be returned. This
occurred in part because the customer's request was not fully understood by the
returned goods coordinator at the third-party fulfillment center.

         On August 12, 2005, as a result of the Company's continued evaluation
of the nature and extent of errors that the Company may have made in recording
its reserve for returns in previous financial statements, the Audit Committee of
the Company's Board of Directors concluded, in consultation with and upon the
recommendation of the Company's management, that investors should not rely upon
the financial statements in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2004, as amended, as well as management's
assertions on internal controls in such Annual Report, until this evaluation is
completed. The Company's Audit Committee and management have discussed these
matters with the Company's independent registered public accounting firm.

         The Company is continuing to evaluate the nature and extent of the
errors described above. As promptly as practicable following the completion of
this evaluation, the Company intends to file such amendments to any prior filing
that the Company determines are necessary.

<PAGE>

                                    SIGNATURE

         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.



Date:  August 18, 2005          SAVIENT PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.


                                  By:  /s/ Philip K. Yachmetz
                                       ----------------------------------------
                                       Philip K. Yachmetz
                                       Senior Vice President - Corporate
                                       Strategy, General Counsel and Secretary
[{"type": "8-K", "sequence": "1", "filename": "b408434_8k.txt", "description": "CURRENT REPORT", "secsgml_size_bytes": 4821}]
{"company-data": {"conformed-name": "SAVIENT PHARMACEUTICALS INC", "cik": "0000722104", "assigned-sic": "2833", "irs-number": "133033811", "state-of-incorporation": "DE", "fiscal-year-end": "1231"}, "filing-values": {"form-type": "8-K", "act": "34", "file-number": "000-15313", "film-number": "051036576"}, "business-address": {"street1": "ONE TOWER CENTER", "city": "EAST BRUNSWICK", "state": "NJ", "zip": "08816", "phone": "7324189300"}, "mail-address": {"street1": "ONE TOWER CENTER", "city": "EAST BRUNSWICK", "state": "NJ", "zip": "08816"}, "former-company": {"former-conformed-name": "BIO TECHNOLOGY GENERAL CORP", "date-changed": "19920703"}}
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

                      ------------------------------------

                                    FORM 8-K

                                 CURRENT REPORT
                       PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF
                      THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

       Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): August 12, 2005

                         Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               (Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

        Delaware                     0-15313                 13-3033811
--------------------------    --------------------       ----------------------
 (State or other juris-            (Commission              (IRS Employer
diction of incorporation          File Number)           Identification No.)

                          One Tower Center, 14th Floor
                        East Brunswick, New Jersey 08816
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
              (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
       Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (732) 418-9300

                                 Not applicable
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         (Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

         Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to
simultaneously satisfy the obligation of the registrant under any of the
following provisions:

|_|      Written communication pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17
         CFR 230.425)

|_|      Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17
         CFR 240.14a-12)

|_|      Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the
         Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2{b))

|_|      Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the
         Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
ITEM 4.02. NON-RELIANCE ON PREVIOUSLY ISSUED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OR A RELATED
AUDIT REPORT OR COMPLETED INTERIM REVIEW.

         (a) As previously announced, in connection with the Company's
announcement of its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2005, the
Company determined that it had made an error in recording its reserve for
returns in the first quarter of 2005. The Company determines its reserves for
sales returns based, in part, on notifications received from customers advising
the Company through its third-party fulfillment center of their intent to return
product. The Company subsequently determined that certain of those reported
returns were in error in that actual units of product returned were
significantly less than the amounts originally expected to be returned. This
occurred in part because the customer's request was not fully understood by the
returned goods coordinator at the third-party fulfillment center.

         On August 12, 2005, as a result of the Company's continued evaluation
of the nature and extent of errors that the Company may have made in recording
its reserve for returns in previous financial statements, the Audit Committee of
the Company's Board of Directors concluded, in consultation with and upon the
recommendation of the Company's management, that investors should not rely upon
the financial statements in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2004, as amended, as well as management's
assertions on internal controls in such Annual Report, until this evaluation is
completed. The Company's Audit Committee and management have discussed these
matters with the Company's independent registered public accounting firm.

         The Company is continuing to evaluate the nature and extent of the
errors described above. As promptly as practicable following the completion of
this evaluation, the Company intends to file such amendments to any prior filing
that the Company determines are necessary.
SIGNATURE

         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.

Date:  August 18, 2005          SAVIENT PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.

                                  By:  /s/ Philip K. Yachmetz
                                       ----------------------------------------
                                       Philip K. Yachmetz
                                       Senior Vice President - Corporate
                                       Strategy, General Counsel and Secretary