CombiChem Announces Achievement of Milestone in Research Collaboration with Roche Bioscience.

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 6, 1998--CombiChem, Inc. today announced it has achieved a research milestone in its collaboration with Roche Bioscience triggering an undisclosed milestone payment.

The milestone achievement stems from identification, in less than one year, of novel inhibitors in a lead evolution project for a potential new treatment for respiratory disease. Lead evolution is the process of using existing information regarding a lead compound to identify different structural series, which can provide other development options and an enhanced patent position. This lead evolution expertise is the key capability differentiating CombiChem from its competitors.

"The close collaboration between CombiChem and Roche Bioscience has facilitated substantial progress in our drug discovery process," said Robert Booth, Ph.D., senior vice president and head of the Roche Bioscience Inflammatory Disease Unit.

CombiChem entered into the collaborative agreement with Roche Bioscience in October 1996. Three projects have been initiated under this broad collaboration to date. The contract provides for lead generation, lead evolution and lead optimization projects involving multiple drug discovery targets.

Under the agreement, Roche Bioscience made an up-front payment and agreed to provide research funding and to make milestone payments upon the achievement of certain preclinical and clinical milestones. Roche Bioscience retains exclusive global rights to develop and market the products resulting from the collaboration and will make royalty payments to CombiChem on worldwide sales of any products resulting from the collaboration.

CombiChem, Inc., based in San Diego, is a computational drug discovery company that is applying its proprietary design technology and rapid synthesis capabilities to accelerate the discovery process for new drugs. The company believes its approach offers pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies the opportunity to conduct their drug discovery efforts in a more productive and cost-effective manner.

Using its proprietary Discovery Engine(TM) process, the company focuses on the generation, evolution and optimization of potential new lead candidates for its collaborative partners, who will then develop, manufacture, market and sell any resulting drugs. In addition to the collaboration with Roche Bioscience, CombiChem has established collaborative partnerships with Teijin Limited, Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., ImClone Systems Inc., Athena Neuroscience, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Elan Corp., plc. and ICOS Corp.

Located in Palo Alto, Calif., Roche Bioscience is a research-based, business-oriented enterprise dedicated to the discovery and accelerated early clinical development of innovative prescription drugs. Roche Bioscience is a member of the Roche Group, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. The Roche Bioscience website is available at www.roche.com/bioscience.

Except for the historical and financial information contained herein, the matters discussed in this news release may contain forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties, including a dependence on the efforts of third parties, a new and uncertain technology employed by the company, dependence on intellectual property rights, the competitive nature of the company's industry and risks of obsolescence of certain technology.

Actual results may differ materially from those projected. Forward-looking statements represent the judgment of the company as of the date of this release. CombiChem disclaims, however, any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

CONTACT: CombiChem

Vince Anido Jr. Ph.D./Karin Eastham, 619/530-0484