University of Mississippi Professor Takes Sabbatical With Argonaut.

Business Editors/Medical Writers

SAN CARLOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 11, 2001

Argonaut Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:AGNT) today announced that University of Mississippi Professor Robert D. Sindelar, Ph.D. is taking a three-month sabbatical with the company. The University has recently established a multimillion-dollar Laboratory for Applied Drug Design and Synthesis (LADDS) in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy. In collaboration with The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the new laboratory provides the medicinal chemistry researchers with a new infrastructure for direct access to state-of-the-art drug design, discovery and optimization instrumentation.

LADDS utilizes Argonaut's Trident Library Synthesizer, SPS, Quest and First Mate systems. Sindelar has committed to spending his sabbatical with Argonaut chemists in order to enhance his research skills in the area of automated combinatorial synthesis. His research interests include optimizing natural product leads and designing peptidomimetic "scaffolds" to solve problems in the areas of emerging infectious disease, malaria, immune modulation and cardiovascular disease. "We are excited to have Bob work with Argonaut during his sabbatical. We believe Bob will give us great first-hand insight into the research needs of medicinal chemists," stated Jeff Labadie, Ph.D., Argonaut's vice president of chemistry.

The objective of LADDS is to achieve in parallel the multiple goals of teaching rational drug design and synthesis while carrying out the actual research endeavor of identifying novel anti-infective agents for potential commercialization. LADDS was initially funded by a cooperative research agreement with the CDC.

Argonaut Technologies

Argonaut Technologies, Inc. is a pioneer in the development of innovative products that speed and simplify how chemists discover and test new chemical entities. Our products enable chemists to increase their productivity, reduce their operating costs through automation and process simplification, achieve faster time-to-market for new products, and cost-effectively explore the increasing number of drug targets available for drug development. We provide solutions that are used in over 825 pharmaceutical, chemical and academic laboratories worldwide. Our instruments, software and consumables for parallel synthesis enable chemists to perform multiple experiments under a variety of conditions in a fraction of the time and cost of traditional methods.

Forward Looking Statements

Statements included in this press release that are not historical in nature may be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Examples of such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the ability of Argonaut's products to enhance chemical development or the anticipated benefits to be derived from Dr. Sindelar's sabbatical. Any such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and reflect Argonaut's judgment as of the date of this release. These and other risk factors are discussed in Argonaut's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000 filed on April 2, 2001, as amended, in its most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2001 filed on August 13, 2001, and its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Argonaut disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements. The Company claims the protection of the Safe Harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.