ARIAD Honored by Sarcoma Foundation of America for Development of AP23573 as Breakthrough Treatment for Sarcomas.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARIA) today announced that the Company has been honored by the Sarcoma Foundation of America (SFA) with the Symbol of Caring Award for the discovery and development of AP23573 - ARIAD's breakthrough medicine for the treatment of soft-tissue and bone sarcomas. With over 600 guests in attendance last night at the SFA's Third Annual Gala in New York, Harvey J. Berger, M.D., founder, chairman and chief executive officer of ARIAD, and Camille L. Bedrosian, M.D., chief medical officer, accepted the award on behalf of ARIAD. AP23573, a novel mTOR inhibitor, is currently in Phase 2 clinical trials and has been designated a fast-track product by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of advanced sarcomas.

"ARIAD is the first-ever recipient of our Symbol of Caring Award," said Mark Thornton, M.D., Ph.D., co-founder and president of the SFA. "This Award honors ARIAD for its commitment to developing better treatments and better care for patients with sarcoma. AP23573 represents the first new treatment for sarcoma in over twenty years, and we are pleased to recognize ARIAD's focus on developing this much-needed therapy."

"We are honored to receive this recognition from the SFA on behalf of our organization and particularly the ARIAD scientists who discovered AP23573 and those who are leading its clinical development," said Harvey J. Berger, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer of ARIAD. "There are no effective drugs currently available to treat patients with advanced sarcoma, and new therapies such as AP23573 are urgently required. We commend the tireless efforts of the SFA in providing much needed information, support and encouragement for patients suffering from this often-forgotten cancer, as well as their families and friends."

Selected to receive the Nobility in Science Award at last night's event was Murray Brennan, M.D., Surgeon-in-Chief at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and a world-renown expert on soft-tissue sarcoma, who has authored or co-authored more than 800 scientific papers and book chapters.

Actress Heather Menzies Urich accepted the Leadership in Courage Award which was awarded posthumously to her husband and actor Robert Urich, who died of sarcoma three years ago and, along with Heather, was deeply involved in activities to support sarcoma research and awareness.

About the Sarcoma Foundation of America

The mission of the Sarcoma Foundation of America is to act as an advocate for sarcoma medical research. Its goal is to provide funding to support research focused on discovering and developing new weapons with which to treat and eradicate sarcoma. For more information about the SFA and sarcomas, visit http://www.curesarcoma.org.

About Sarcoma

Sarcomas are cancers of the connective tissue, including bones, muscles, fat, cartilage, and joints and do not discriminate by age, gender or race. Sarcomas can arise anywhere in the body and are divided into two main groups - bone tumors and soft tissue sarcomas. They are further sub-classified based on the type of cell or tissue from which the tumor developed. There are approximately 12,000 new cases of sarcoma diagnosed each year in the United States and approximately 100,000 sarcoma patients overall in the United States.

About AP23573

ARIAD's small-molecule drug, AP23573, starves cancer cells and shrinks tumors by inhibiting the critical cell-signaling protein, mTOR, which regulates the response of tumor cells to nutrients and growth factors, and controls tumor blood supply and angiogenesis through effects on Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) in tumor and endothelial cells. AP23573 also blocks the proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells, the primary cause of narrowing and reblockage of injured arteries, and is an analog of sirolimus, another mTOR inhibitor that has been approved for use in drug-eluting stents. AP23573 is currently in Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials in patients with solid tumors and hematologic cancers. AP23573 has been designated a fast-track product by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of soft tissue and bone sarcomas.

About ARIAD

ARIAD is engaged in the discovery and development of breakthrough medicines to treat disease by regulating cell signaling with small molecules. The Company is developing a comprehensive approach to patients with cancer that addresses the greatest medical need - aggressive and advanced-stage cancers for which current treatments are inadequate. Medinol Ltd. also is developing stents and other medical devices that deliver ARIAD's lead cancer product candidate to prevent reblockage at sites of vascular injury following stent-assisted angioplasty. ARIAD has an exclusive license to pioneering technology and patents related to certain NF-(kappa)B treatment methods, and the discovery and development of drugs to regulate NF-(kappa)B cell-signaling activity, which may be useful in treating certain diseases. Additional information about ARIAD can be found on the web at http://www.ariad.com.

Some of the matters discussed herein are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance. Such statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to certain factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, outcome of events, timing and performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding the Company's ability to accurately estimate the timing and actual research and development expenses and other costs associated with the preclinical and clinical development and manufacture of our product candidates, the adequacy of our capital resources and the availability of additional funding, risks and uncertainties regarding our ability to manufacture our product candidates on a commercial scale or to supply our product candidates to our collaborator for use in its product candidates, risks and uncertainties regarding our and our collaborator's ability to successfully enroll and conduct preclinical and clinical studies of product candidates, including our product candidate to treat cancer described in this release and our collaborator's medical device product candidates to treat vascular disease, risks and uncertainties that clinical trial results at any phase of development may be adverse or may not be predictive of future results or lead to regulatory approval of any of our or our collaborator's product candidates, risks and uncertainties of third-party intellectual property claims relating to our and our collaborator's product candidates, and risks and uncertainties relating to regulatory oversight, the timing, scope, cost and outcome of legal proceedings, including litigation concerning our NF-(kappa)B patent portfolio, future capital needs, key employees, dependence on our collaborators and manufacturers, markets, economic conditions, products, services, prices, reimbursement rates, competition and other risks detailed in the Company's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including ARIAD's Annual Report on Form 10-K, as amended, for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004. The information contained in this document is believed to be current as of the date of original issue. The Company does not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this document to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in the Company's expectations, except as required by law.