Curis, Inc. Reports Issuance of U.S. Patent for Discovery that Proteins --Hedgehog-related Genes-- are Involved in Formation of Differentiated Tissues in Vertebrates.

Attention Business and Science Editors

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BW HealthWire)--Sept. 19, 2001

Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS) announced today that the United States Patent Office has issued Patent No. 6,261,786,in the field of small molecules titled "Screening Assays for Hedgehog Agonists and Antagonists."

According to Doros Platika, MD, President and CEO of Curis, Inc., "The hedgehog pathway plays a fundamental role in maintaining the proper health of a variety of adult tissues. The present invention allows for the identification of proteins and small molecules that regulate this pathway. In particular, small molecule regulators can be used for disease applications that are not amenable to treatment with protein therapeutics. Curis has recently received approval from the FDA to enter into a phase 1 study with a small molecule hedgehog antagonist to treat the most common form of skin cancer and is actively pursuing other cancers that may be treated with the same antagonist."

Dan Passeri, Senior Vice President of Business Development added, "In addition to participating in the maintenance of healthy adult tissues, the hedgehog pathway is one of the key regulators of stem cell differentiation. Therefore, the new patent constitutes an important part of another fundamental aspect of Curis business, that of understanding and controlling the differentiation of stem cells. We anticipate that our work in this area will lead to the development of new cell therapeutics and also of novel drug targets in the areas of oncology and degenerative disease."

Inventors are Clifford J. Tabin and Andrew P. McMahon of Harvard University and Philip W. Ingham and Valeria Marigo of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. Hedgehog patent portfolio licensed from Harvard.

The recently issued US patent 6,261,786 (issue date of July 17, 2001) is the fourth of 5 issued patents in a series of US patent applications that are exclusively licensed from Harvard University. Issued claims in 6,261,786 covers an assay for identifying compounds that inhibit or potentiate binding of hedgehog polypeptide to a naturally occurring patched receptor. The other 4 issued patents cover polypeptide and nucleic acid sequences for hedgehog proteins, either the full length sequence or shortened fragments and including human indian and sonic hedgehog.

Over the past six years, members of the Hedgehog (Hh) family of secreted proteins have emerged as key players in a wide variety of vertebrate developmental processes, ranging from the control of cartilage differentiation to the specification of neuronal identity. In addition, the aberrant activation of the Hedgehog pathway has been identified as the likely cause of a number of tumors in humans including basal cell carcinomas (BCCs), primitive neurectodermal tumours (PNETs) and rhabdomyosarcomas. Elucidating the mechanisms by which Hedgehog signals are generated and transduced thus has widespread implications for our understanding of both normal development and disease.

Curis is pursuing lead molecules and targets that have been discovered to be important in developing treatments for degenerative diseases. Among these molecules is the family of proteins described as hedgehog originally identified in the fruit fly and subsequently characterized to be a highly conserved family of signaling molecules important in the induction and maintenance of many tissues including the nervous system tissues, in the onset of basal cell carcinoma and hair regrowth.

About Curis, Inc.

Curis, Inc. is developing products that sustain health through regenerative medicine. The Company utilizes technologies and insights gained through the study of developmental biology to facilitate the discovery and development of new approaches to repair and regeneration of tissues and organs damaged by disease and/or trauma. Through these discoveries, the Company has developed a pipeline of promising new therapies for the treatment of major diseases, including neurological disorders, diabetes, oncology, cardiovascular and renal disease.

The Curis technology platform and product development pipeline is based on developmental biology signaling pathways, adult stem cells, and cell-based therapies. Curis Research is conducted both internally and through alliances, partnerships and joint ventures with companies and organizations including Aegera Therapeutics and McGill University, Montreal, Canada; Micromet AG, Munich, Germany; and Elan Corporation, Dublin, Ireland.

For more information, please visit the Curis web site at www.curis.com.

The statements in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, risks associated with the inherent uncertainty of pharmaceutical research, product development, regulatory approval and commercialization, the impact of competitive products, patents, patent litigation, product liability, third party reimbursement, and other risks and uncertainties associated with the biotechnology industry. For additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, please refer to the risk factors section of the Post Effective amendment no. 1 on Form S-3 (file no. 333-50906) to the Curis Registration Statement on Form S-1 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 10, 2001. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent the judgment of Curis, as of the date of this release, and Curis disclaims any intent or obligation to update such forward-looking statements to reflect any change in Curis' expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions, circumstances on which such statements are based.