CombiChem Announces New Product Introduction -- TargetStar.

SAN DIEGO--(BW HealthWire)--April 27, 1999--

CombiChem Inc. (Nasdaq:CCHM) announced today that it has launched TargetStar(TM).

TargetStar is a new discovery product designed to help the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry overcome the challenging task of prioritizing and determining the "drugability" of the many new and novel drug targets being discovered within these industries.

"TargetStar exemplifies CombiChem's commercialization strategy for its proprietary design technology and allows us to offer our computational expertise to a broader customer base," said Vicente Anido, Jr., Ph.D., CombiChem's president and chief executive officer. "As a result of all the recent discoveries in the human genome, the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are being flooded with new drug target opportunities. We believe TargetStar will help them decide which targets may be worth moving into the expensive discovery process," stated Anido. Additional information on TargetStar may be found at www.targetstar.com.

CombiChem Inc., based in San Diego, is a computational discovery company that is applying its proprietary design technology and rapid synthesis capabilities to accelerate the discovery process for new drugs and chemical products. The company believes its approach offers the pharmaceutical and chemical industries the opportunity to conduct their discovery efforts in a more productive and cost effective manner. Using its proprietary Discovery Engine(TM) process, CombiChem focuses on the generation, evolution, and optimization of new lead candidates for its collaborative partners, who will then develop, manufacture, market, and sell the resulting products.

CombiChem has established collaborative agreements with Athena Neuroscience Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Elan Corp., plc., ICOS Corp., ImClone Systems Inc., Novartis Crop Protection AG, Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Roche Bioscience, Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. and Teijin Limited.

Additionally, CombiChem has established a 50%-owned joint venture with Chirotech Technology Limited, a member of the Chiroscience Group of companies. The joint venture, ChiroChem Discovery Services LLC, was created to develop and market computationally designed libraries of single-isomer, chiral compounds to the pharmaceutical industry.

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 significant fluctuations in quarterly financial performance depending on factors such as timing of revenues recognized and achievement of milestones, a dependence on the efforts of third parties, a new and uncertain technology employed by CombiChem, the rate of adoption of CombiChem's technology, dependence on intellectual property rights, the competitive nature of the industry in which CombiChem operates and risks of obsolescence of certain technology. Actual results may differ materially from those projected. Forward-looking statements represent the judgment of CombiChem as of the date of this release. CombiChem disclaims, however, any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

CombiChem's press releases are on the Web at www.combichem.com.

TargetStar Contact: Michael G. Rusnak, Vice President of Business Development.