Axys Pharmaceuticals Revises Earnings Forecast for 2000 Year-End.

Business Editors and Health/Medical Writers

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--Dec. 18, 2000

Axys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:AXPH) today indicated that as a result of DNA Sciences' acquisition of Axys' affiliated pharmacogenomics business, PPGx, Inc., which is scheduled to close before year end, Axys Pharmaceuticals expects to show a profit for the 12-month period ending December 31, 2000 versus a projected loss of $ 0.12 - $ 0.18, as previously provided in guidance to Wall Street.

"The merger of the second of Axys' affiliated businesses underscores the value of the strategy we embarked upon several years ago to provide capital for Axys by leveraging assets acquired in the Sequana acquisition. We firmly believe that in DNA Sciences we have found an organization that naturally complements PPGx, and that moving forward, the new organization is positioned to take advantage of the emerging opportunities surrounding pharmacogenomics. This merger follows the successful merger earlier this year of Axys Advanced Technologies with Discovery Partners International, Inc. (Nasdaq:DPII) which shortly after the merger completed a successful public offering. We continue to retain ownership in a third affiliate, Akkadix, an agricultural biotech company, and we look forward to an appropriate opportunity to capitalize on its achievements in agbio," commented John Walker, Chairman of Axys.

Axys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an integrated small molecule drug discovery and development company. Axys has a broad pipeline of products for chronic therapeutic applications that are partnered with world-class pharmaceutical companies and a proprietary product portfolio in oncology. Axys is also building shareholder value through affiliated businesses that leverage the Axys technologies in order to provide capital for Axys' drug discovery and development programs. In addition to the minority interest in Discovery Partners International, Inc. (Nasdaq:DPII) resulting from the merger of Axys Advanced Technologies into DPII earlier this year and the minority interest in DNA Sciences resulting from their acquisition of PPGx, Axys' other technology leveraging business is Akkadix Corporation, an agricultural biotechnology company.

For more information about Axys Pharmaceuticals, Inc., please visit the company's website at http://www.axyspharm.com.

Except for the historical information contained herein, this press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties which could cause Axys' actual results to differ materially from those discussed here, including the risks inherent in early stage development and the reliance on the efforts of collaborative partners, the risk that Axys collaborations will not be successful, the risk that clinical trials will not proceed as anticipated or may not be successful, the risk that Axys will not be successful in entering into new collaborations, market risk associated with Axys' substantial ownership interest in DPII, competition and marketing risk, and general economic conditions that may affect Axys' actual results and developments. Additional factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in the sections entitled "What Factors Could Cause Our Results to Differ Significantly from Those You Might Expect?" and "What Other Matters Should Stockholders Consider with Respect to Axys?" in the Axys' SEC Reports, including Axys' report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1999.