PRCS Praecis Pharmaceuticals (MM)

PRAECIS PHARMACEUTICALS INCORPORATED (NASDAQ: PRCS) today announced that O. Prem Das, Ph.D. has joined the Company as Senior Vice President, Technology Partnerships. Dr. Das will be responsible for the establishment and management of strategic partnerships relating to DirectSelect(TM), the Company's innovative drug discovery technology. DirectSelect(TM) is based on DNA-tagged small molecule libraries that are ultra-large, enable rapid screening without robotics and can potentially access targets difficult to handle using other drug discovery methods. Dr. Das will report to Kevin F. McLaughlin, President and Chief Executive Officer, and will serve as a member of PRAECIS' senior management team. "Prem's experience in technology licensing and his creativity in structuring strategic transactions is a timely and important addition to the PRAECIS management team, as we focus our efforts on leveraging the power of DirectSelect(TM) to support external partnerships as well as to expand our own proprietary development pipeline," stated Mr. McLaughlin. Dr. Das commented, "I am excited to join PRAECIS, especially at a time when the Company is executing the first phase of its strategic plan for DirectSelect(TM). By entering into the recent pilot studies with Gilead and GlaxoSmithKline, PRAECIS is now poised to broaden the reach of its proprietary technology through corporate alliances and collaborations. I look forward to working closely with Kevin and the management team to realize the full potential of this technology and develop a leading discovery-based pharmaceutical business." Dr. Das brings to PRAECIS strong scientific credentials, proven expertise and a record of success in business development. Prior to joining PRAECIS, Dr. Das served for three years as the Director of the Office of Technology Development at Harvard Medical School, and for nearly three years in a similar capacity at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. In these positions, he was responsible for overseeing licensing negotiations and during his tenure, successfully negotiated a significant number of important out-licensing agreements with both small and large pharmaceutical companies, as well as many sponsored research, collaboration and clinical trial agreements. Previously, Dr. Das was Director of Business Development for Cadus Pharmaceutical Corporation, and earlier had founded and led a start-up biotechnology company. Dr. Das also has over 15 years of experience in academic research. Dr. Das holds a Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a M.Sc. in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur. About PRAECIS PRAECIS PHARMACEUTICALS INCORPORATED is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel compounds that have the potential to address unmet medical needs or improve existing therapies. PRAECIS has a novel MetAP-2 inhibitor, PPI-2458, in clinical development for cancer indications, including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and solid tumors, as well as an innovative drug discovery technology, DirectSelect(TM), which enables the generation and practical use of ultra-large libraries for the discovery of orally active compounds for drug development. PRAECIS has received approval to market Plenaxis(R) in both the United States and Germany. This news release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the Company's plans for seeking partnerships relating to, as well as the internal use of, its DirectSelect(TM) technology. These statements are based on the Company's current beliefs and expectations as to future outcomes and are not guarantees of future events or performance. These statements are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual events and results to differ from those anticipated or projected, including, but not limited to, the Company's ability to continue development of and successfully partner its DirectSelect(TM) technology, as well as the risks set forth from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the various risks discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement made in this press release to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date of this release.