Nereus Pharmaceuticals Hires New Executives and Appoints Scientific Advisory Board Member.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

BIOWIRE2K

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 5, 2003

Nereus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a pioneer in drug discovery and development from marine microbial sources, today announced that Sanford Madigan, Ph.D. and Jennifer Grodberg, Ph.D. have joined the company as vice president of corporate development and director of infectious diseases, respectively. In addition, Samuel Danishefsky, Ph.D. was appointed to Nereus' scientific advisory board.

"We are delighted to have so many strong additions to our team. Dr. Madigan is highly skilled in negotiating partnerships and licensing agreements, and I expect his relationships to be invaluable as we continue our conversations with pharmaceutical companies that are looking for sources of novel drug candidates. Dr. Grodberg's wealth of previous experience in drug discovery research, including building an anti-infectives discovery program from the ground up, will guide us as we continue to expand our pipeline," said Kobi Sethna, president and CEO of Nereus. "And, of course, it is an honor to have a scientist of Dr. Danishefsky's stature providing us with strategic guidance for the advancement of our programs that are developing novel anti-tumor and antibacterial agents."

Prior to joining Nereus, Dr. Madigan served as vice president corporate development for Ambit Biosciences Corporation. In a previous position with X-Ceptor Therapeutics, Inc., he was instrumental in establishing licensing agreements with leading academic laboratories and international pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Madigan also held a series of increasingly senior positions at SIBIA Neurosciences, where he helped to establish corporate partnerships.

Dr. Grodberg was previously with Ontogen Corporation, where she established and served as associate director of the infectious disease drug discovery program. Her new position at Nereus builds upon a strong foundation in anti-infectives discovery: she has worked in development groups at Iconix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Microcide Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Boehringer Ingelheim in Canada.

With a 40-year career in the synthetic chemistry of natural products, Dr. Danishefsky has become the recognized international authority on the total synthesis of complex natural products. Dr. Danishefsky's primary research interest is the development of new therapeutic agents from natural products. He is currently a professor at Columbia University and director of its Laboratory for Bioorganic Chemistry, as well as the Kettering Chair at the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in New York.

Nereus has several novel chemical series derived from the microbiology-based drug discovery program, including two series of anti-tumor agents, the macrocyclic lactams and polyketides. Additionally, Nereus continues to advance development of 1) a small molecule, synthetic, orally active TNF-alpha/IL-1 synthesis inhibitor series and 2) its Halimide series of anti-tumor agents that exhibit a dual mechanism of action as modulators of vascular biology and regulators of microtubule stability by binding to sites on tubulin that are distinct from taxol or vinca alkaloids.

About Nereus Pharmaceuticals

Nereus Pharmaceuticals is an innovative drug discovery and development company pursuing untapped sources of chemical diversity. With unmatched expertise in marine microbiology and structural elucidation, Nereus is using its integrated platform technologies to identify novel biologically active compounds. The company believes that its marine microbes will be the next great source of drug discovery for the pharmaceutical industry. Nereus aims to develop and optimize drug candidates to treat cancer, infectious diseases and inflammation. The company is privately held and based in San Diego, California. For more information, visit www.nereuspharm.com.

Nereus Pharmaceuticals is a registered trademark of Nereus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. All other product and company names may be registered trademark or trademarks of their respective owners.