ARIAD to Webcast Presentation at the Merrill Lynch Global Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology & Medical Device Conference.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARIA) today announced that its presentation at the Merrill Lynch Global Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology & Medical Device Conference at The Grand Hyatt in New York City, New York, on Thursday, February 9, 2006 will be webcast live and can be accessed by visiting the investor relations section of the Company's website at http://www.ariad.com/investor.

The presentation will be given at 4:00 p.m. (EST) by Harvey J. Berger, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer of ARIAD, who will provide an overview of the Company and its progress in key programs. A replay will be available on the ARIAD website approximately three hours after the presentation and will be archived for two weeks.

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 or our collaborator's ability to manufacture our product candidates on a commercial scale or to supply our product candidates to collaborators, risks and uncertainties regarding our ability to successfully enroll and conduct preclinical and clinical studies of product candidates, 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 any collaborator's product candidates, risks and uncertainties of third-party intellectual property claims relating to our and any 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 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.