Accelrys Announces the Release of MS Modeling 3.1; Major Milestone towards a Complete PC-Based Modeling Environment for Materials Research.

SAN DIEGO -- Accelrys, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACCL) today announced the latest release of MS Modeling, the Materials Studio(R) modeling and simulation software suite for materials researchers. MS Modeling 3.1 offers new technology, as well as adding well-validated and widely-used simulation methods to round out the Materials Studio offering in a number of key application areas. The release will benefit scientists in the chemicals and materials-based industries and in nanotechnology.

New technology includes the delivery of NMR CASTEP, which reliably predicts accurate nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) chemical shielding tensors and quadrupolar coupling constants for any material. NMR CASTEP is the first NMR simulation method that can be applied to help characterize organic molecules, organic crystals, inorganic crystals, and amorphous compounds. This predictive characterization is an essential step in many materials research projects and the understanding gained in real-time using NMR CASTEP will be important.

MS Modeling 3.1 is a particular milestone for researchers modeling crystal structure and crystallization processes. The addition of the Morphology product means that the suite now offers a complete range of technologies to study this problem set, which impacts industrially-important issues such as the dissolution rate of chemicals and the biological availability of drugs. Morphology simulates the bulk shape of a crystal based on its molecular-level structure, providing insight that helps researchers to control this shape and the processing properties that it determines. Morphology complements existing tools for crystal structure determination and studying interactions at surfaces and interfaces.

The release also enhances MS Modeling's solutions for polymer scientists and materials simulation. Synthia calculates polymer properties using statistical correlation methods, allowing researchers to quickly screen polymers and copolymer blends. Forcite Plus is an advanced molecular simulation tool for materials ranging from simple molecules, via two-dimensional surfaces, to three-dimensional periodic structures such as crystals. Its unique, comprehensive, suite of analysis tools allows the scientist to analyze everything from simple properties, such as density variations, to calculate complex phenomena like dipole autocorrelation functionals. The result is materials with optimized properties.

MS Modeling delivers both established and new simulation technology within a next-generation environment that widens access and enables collaboration. The user interface is PC-based, making it easy-to-use and interoperable with standard productivity tools, while its client-server architecture enables calculations requiring more compute-power to be run on dedicated server machines, making the most of computational resources.

"As well as rapidly deploying technology that we recently licensed from academia, this release offers a complete, integrated suite of crystallization software on the PC," said Dr. Scott Kahn, chief science officer, Accelrys. "The applicability of the Morphology tool to the study of drug compounds extends the appeal and the proven ROI of the market-leading modeling and simulation suite for the chemicals and materials industries to the pharmaceutical industry."

About Accelrys

Accelrys, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACCL) is a leading provider of software for computation, simulation, and the management and mining of scientific data used by biologists, chemists and materials scientists, including nanotechnology researchers for product design as well as drug discovery and development. Accelrys technology and services are designed to meet the needs of today's leading research organizations. The company is headquartered in San Diego, California. For more information about Accelrys, visit its website at http://www.accelrys.com/.

This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). When used anywhere in this document, the words "expects," "believes," "anticipates," "estimates," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Examples of such forward-looking statements herein include statements regarding the distribution and performance of the MS Modeling technologies. Accelrys has based these forward-looking statements on its current expectations about future events. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the successful implementation of Accelrys' strategic plans, the acceptance of new products, the obsolescence of existing products, the resolution of existing and potential future patent issues, additional competition, changes in economic conditions, and other risks and uncertainties described in documents Accelrys has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent report on Form 10-Q. All forward-looking statements in this document are qualified entirely by the cautionary statements included in this document and such filings. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from results expressed or implied by forward-looking statements contained in this document. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this document. Accelrys claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Act and, disclaims any intent or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.