Abgenix Announces Executive Promotions in Clinical Development.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

FREMONT, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--Feb. 19, 2002

Abgenix, Inc. (Nasdaq:ABGX) announced today two senior promotions in its clinical development organization. Gisela M. Schwab, M.D. was promoted to chief medical officer, and Gregory M. Bell, M.D. was promoted to vice president, clinical development, inflammation. These promotions reflect the continuing expansion of the company's clinical activities and support the company's commitment to developing a pipeline of proprietary products based on its fully human antibody technologies.

"Our main focus at Abgenix today is expanding our pipeline of antibody-based therapies for cancer and inflammatory diseases that now includes six product candidates in clinical development, four of which are being developed by Abgenix itself," said R. Scott Greer, chairman and CEO of Abgenix. "Our goal is to file two INDs for Abgenix proprietary products each year starting this year. Today's promotions acknowledge the contributions Gisela and Gregory have made to the development of our product pipeline, as well as the key roles they will continue to play in leading their teams toward achieving Abgenix's long-term growth."

Dr. Schwab, an oncologist, joined Abgenix as vice president of clinical development in November 1999. In this role, she was responsible for the creation of the clinical and regulatory functions of the company and has grown the team from a staff of five to 77 today. In her new role, she will continue to have responsibility for leading clinical product development for all therapeutic areas and overall management of the functional areas of regulatory affairs, biometrics, pharmacokinetics and toxicology. Prior to joining Abgenix, she spent seven years at Amgen Inc. as director, clinical research and therapeutic area team leader for Oncology/Hematology. Before Amgen, Dr. Schwab performed research in molecular biology at the French National Institute for Health and Research in Paris and at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md. She received an M.D. degree from the University of Heidelberg in Germany and is board certified in hematology and oncology.

Dr. Bell, a rheumatologist, joined Abgenix as director, clinical development in September 2000. In his new role, Dr. Bell will lead the clinical activities supporting product candidates in the area of inflammatory diseases, including ABX-IL8, the company's lead anti-inflammatory antibody candidate. For five years prior to joining Abgenix, Dr. Bell was a medical director at Merck & Co. where he supported the clinical development and commercialization of Vioxx. Prior to that, he was a rheumatology fellow and then assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. He received an M.D. degree from Cornell University and is board certified in internal medicine and rheumatology.

Abgenix is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of human therapeutic antibodies. The company's technology platform, which includes XenoMouse(R) and XenoMax(TM) technologies, enables the rapid generation and selection of high affinity, fully human antibody product candidates to a variety of disease targets. Abgenix leverages its leadership position in human antibody technology by building a diversified product portfolio through the development of its own internal proprietary products and through the establishment of licensing arrangements with multiple pharmaceutical, biotechnology and genomics companies. Abgenix's proprietary products are currently in clinical trials for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases. For more information on Abgenix, visit the company's website at www.abgenix.com.

Statements made in this press release about Abgenix's technologies, product development activities and collaborative arrangements other than statements of historical fact, are forward looking statements and are subject to a number of uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made, including risks associated with the success of clinical trials, the progress of research and product development programs, the regulatory approval process, competitive products, future capital requirements and the extent and breadth of Abgenix's patent portfolio. Please see Abgenix's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for information about risks that may affect Abgenix.