ARIAD Gene Regulation Technologies And Genomics Developments Featured On CEOcast Investor Program.

Business & Medical Editors

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 8, 2000

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARIA) is featured in an in-depth interview with a leading online investor program, CEOcast, as a follow up to scientific presentations made earlier this week at the forty-second annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

The interview of ARIAD's chairman and chief executive officer, Harvey J. Berger, M.D., was conducted by Michael Wachs, CEOcast's biotech analyst, and can be accessed online at www.ceocast.com.

Dr. Berger discusses recent advances in the Company's ARGENT(TM) gene regulation programs, including the status of development of its regulated cell therapy and stem cell therapy products, the broad utility of its platform technologies for genomics and proteomics research, and its commercialization plans for ARGENT.

Dr. Berger comments in the interview, "Results of a clinical study presented at the ASH meeting of a graft-vs-host disease (GvHD) treatment developed by a group of Italian medical researchers underscored the clinical value of ARIAD's second-generation GvHD product, because our product - which is in phase 2 clinical development - overcomes the limitations of the treatment they reported on, while maintaining its therapeutic benefits and targeted mechanism of action. In fact, the ARIAD GvHD product was specifically designed utilizing the ARGENT gene regulation system to address those limitations. The efficacy demonstrated in the Milan study provides compelling proof in man that lymphocyte elimination controlled by small-molecule drugs is an effective treatment strategy for GvHD."

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (www.ariad.com) is a leader in the discovery and development of gene therapy, cell therapy, stem cell therapy and protein therapy products featuring dose-dependent regulation by small-molecule drugs, as well as small-molecule inhibitors of signal transduction.

CEOcast, Inc. (www.ceocast.com) is a leading source of original and syndicated broadcast interviews with chief executive officers at news-making companies. CEOcast's information is made available to buy-side analysts and portfolio managers at over 3,600 institutions, investment research professionals representing over 600 institutions, and close to 300,000 registered biotechnology and pharmaceutical investors. Its programming also is distributed to online investors at over 700 financial web sites.

Some of the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, which include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding the Company's preclinical studies, the ability of the Company to conduct clinical trials of its products and the results of such trials, as well as risks and uncertainties relating to economic conditions, markets, products, competition, intellectual property, services and prices, key employees, future capital needs, dependence on our collaborators and other factors under the heading "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in ARIAD's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1999 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.