Cell Pathways to Present At the Techvest, LLC 3rd Annual Healthcare Conference.

Health & Medical Writers

HORSHAM, Pa.--(BW HealthWire)--Oct. 23, 2001

Cell Pathways, Inc. (Nasdaq:CLPA) today announced that Robert Towarnicki, chairman and chief executive officer and Rifat Pamukcu, M.D., co-founder and chief scientific officer will present at the Techvest, LLC Equity Research 3rd Annual Healthcare Conference on October 25, 2001 at the New York Hilton Hotel, New York, New York.

The presentation will be made available to the public by live webcast (audio only) as well as archived for 30 days at www.videonewswire.com/techvest/webcast.

Robert Towarnicki commented on the upcoming presentation, "We look forward to participating in Techvest's Emerging Healthcare Forum which highlights the cutting-edge technology in medical science and drug development of over 65 companies. Speaking at this conference offers Cell Pathways the opportunity to present our SAANDs technology and to outline the company's progress and prospects before an audience of institutional investors, venture capitalists, and business development executives who specialize in the life science arena."

About Cell Pathways

Cell Pathways, Inc., headquartered in Horsham, Pennsylvania, is a development stage pharmaceutical company focused on the research, development and commercialization of products to prevent and treat cancer. Aptosyn(TM) (exisulind) and CP461 are the first members of a new class of potential therapeutic agents called selective apoptotic antineoplastic drugs, or SAANDs. SAANDs inhibit cyclic GMP phosphodiesterases that show unique patterns of expression in tumors, thus selectively inducing apoptosis (programmed cell death) in precancerous and cancerous cells. Preclinical and clinical research to date suggests drugs that target specific cyclic GMP phosphodiesterases, as SAANDs do, have the potential to lead to the development of new therapeutics with broad-based activity.

Cell Pathways is conducting clinical studies with Aptosyn(TM) and CP461 in a variety of cancer indications.

For additional information on Cell Pathways, Inc., visit the company's web site at http://www.cellpathways.com.

Certain statements made in this release, and oral statements which may be made with respect to this release, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are those which express plan, anticipation, intent, contingency or future development and/or otherwise are not statements of historical fact. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, known and unknown, which could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Such risks and uncertainties relate to, among other factors; the absence of approved products; history of operating losses and the need for further financing; early stage of development; the costs, delays and uncertainties inherent in scientific research, basic pharmaceutical research, drug development, clinical trials and the regulatory approval process, with respect to both our current product candidates and our future product candidates, if any; dependence on the development, approval and market acceptance of one or more of our product candidates for one or more significant disease indications; the risk that the Company does not conduct the clinical studies it may have planned to conduct or does not pursue development plans it may have planned to pursue; uncertainty that additional studies, if any, may not be positive; limitations on, or absence of, the predictive value of data obtained in laboratory tests, animal models and human clinical trials when planning additional steps in product development; uncertainty of obtaining regulatory approval of any compound for any disease indication whether due to adequacy of the development program, changing regulatory requirements or otherwise; the risks that clinical studies do not result in the safety and efficacy necessary to obtain regulatory approvals; the risks of conducting clinical trials of our drugs in combination with other drug therapies; the risks arising from the clinical hold to new accrual for our Phase III lung cancer study of Aptosyn(TM) in combination with Taxotere(R); the commercial risk and risk of liability in promoting Nilandron(R) (nilutamide) manufactured by Aventis Pharmaceuticals; the risk that the Company may enter into, or may fail to enter into, licensing, partnership or other collaborative arrangements which accord to other companies rights with respect to one or more Company compounds or in which the Company acquires new rights and obligations; the volatility of the market price of our common stock; our ability to sell securities registered under the shelf registration statement; acceptance of any product candidates by physicians and providers of healthcare reimbursement; the actions of competitors; the pace of technological changes in the biopharmaceutical industry; dependence upon third parties; the validity, scope and enforceability of patents; the risk of our pending class action securities litigations; potential product liability claims; and availability and adequacy of insurance. These and other risks are detailed in our reports filed from time to time under the Securities Act and/or the Securities Exchange Act, including the sections entitled "Business," "Risk Factors," "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Other Events" in our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and periodic reports on Form 8-Kand in such registration statements on Form S-3 as we may file from time to time. You are encouraged to read these filings as they are made. They are available over the Internet from the SEC in its EDGAR database at http://www.sec.gov and from the Company. Given the uncertainties affecting pharmaceutical companies in the development stage, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, any of which may turn out to be wrong due to inaccurate assumptions, unknown risks, uncertainties or other factors. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed; actual future results may vary materially. Both forward-looking statements and statements of historic fact must be understood in the context of the risks referred to above which characterize our development-stage business. We undertake no obligation to update or revise the statements made herein or the risk factors that may relate thereto.