Cypress Bioscience Appoints Martin B. Keller, M.D., to Board of Directors.

Business Editors and Health/Medical Writers

SAN DIEGO--(BW HealthWire)--June 25, 2001

Cypress Bioscience Inc. (NASDAQ:CYPB) Monday announced the appointment of Martin B. Keller, M.D., to its board of directors.

Dr. Keller will also join the company's newly formed Psychopharmacology Advisory Board focused on developing diagnostic tests and treatments for fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). Keller, 54, is currently the Mary E. Zucker Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Brown University School of Medicine in Providence, R.I. He is a leading expert in the treatment of long-term psychiatric illnesses and the effect of neuropsychopharmacologic compounds and psychotherapy on the short and long-term clinical course of these illnesses in adolescents and adults.

Keller is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Scientific Advisory Board of the National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association (NDMDA) and is on the International Advisory Board of the World Psychiatric Association. He is a co-editor of the International Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, the Journal of Affective Disorders, Depression and Anxiety, and the World Journal of Biological Psychiatry.

Additionally, Keller is the recipient of numerous awards, most recently, the 2001 American College of Psychiatrists' Mood Disorders Lifetime Research Award for major research contributions to the understanding of mood disorders. He also received the 1999 NDMDA Gerald R. Klerman Lifetime Research Award for lifetime research contributions to the diagnosis and treatment of depressive and manic-depressive illness. He has received numerous research grants from the National Institutes of Health, research foundations, and the pharmaceutical industry. Currently, Keller directs several multi-institutional clinical trials on antidepressants.

Keller holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Dartmouth College, and received his M.D. from Cornell University. After interning in medicine at the Bellevue Medical Center in New York City, he received residency training in psychiatry at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where he later served as chief resident, acute psychiatry service.

"Dr. Keller has made fundamental contributions on the cause, psychopathology, treatment and prevention of depression and mood disorders that advanced the understanding of these illnesses and new treatment approaches. He is also an authority in evaluating and measuring the efficacy of psychopharmacologic agents," said Jay D. Kranzler, M.D., Ph.D., chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Cypress. "This experience will be invaluable in furthering our efforts to develop a treatment for FMS."

FMS is estimated to affect 2-4 percent of the population and is the second most commonly diagnosed rheumatological disorder after osteoarthritis. Current treatment options are limited as there are no drugs specifically approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of FMS. The symptoms of FMS are severely debilitating and are characterized by chronic and widespread pain and stiffness throughout the body accompanied by severe fatigue, poor sleep and headaches. Depression has a high comorbidity in FMS patients, and anti-depressants have been shown to be effective in some patients. Patients with FMS have at least comparable disability, more pain and lower quality of life than patients with rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis.

About Cypress Bioscience Inc.

Cypress is engaged in the development of novel therapeutic agents for the diagnosis and treatment of rheumatologic and blood platelet disorders. In addition to its fibromyalgia program, Cypress is the developer of the PROSORBA(R) column, an approved therapeutic medical device that is used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). Cypress is also developing Cyplex(TM), as a potential alternative to traditional platelet transfusions, in collaboration with the Sanquin Blood Supply Foundation, CLB Division, formerly known as the Dutch Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service. For more information about Cypress, visit the company's Web site at www.cypressbio.com.

This press release, as well as Cypress' SEC filings and Web site at http://www.cypressbio.com, contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could vary materially from those described as a result of a number of factors, including those set forth in Cypress Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent SEC filings. In addition, there is the risk that Cypress may not be able to successfully develop or market any products for the treatment for FMS; or that the advisory boards may not increase Cypress' prospects of developing innovative products that improve treatment outcomes for FMS patients; or that Cypress and the CLB will not be able to successfully develop, improve the manufacturing of, or receive regulatory clearance for Cyplex on a timely basis, or at all; or that even if approved, that Cyplex will become a significant product within the blood products markets; and that Fresenius HemoCare may not successfully market the PROSORBA column. Cypress undertakes no obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release, except as required by law.