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Tripos Announces Advancement to Pre-Clinical Development in Drug Discovery Collaboration With Chronogen

Posted on: Wednesday, 28 June 2006, 09:00 CDT

Tripos, Inc. (Nasdaq:TRPS), a leading provider of drug discovery chemistry and informatics products and services, today announced that Tripos Discovery Research, Ltd. (TDR), based in Bude, England, has secured an undisclosed milestone payment from Chronogen Inc. as a result of a small-molecule drug discovery collaboration progressing into pre-clinical development. Chronogen is a drug discovery company developing therapeutics to treat highly prevalent age-dependent diseases.

Commenting on the success of the partnership, Dr. Max Fehlmann, CEO of Chronogen, said, "We are finding Tripos' combination of proprietary informatics tools and medicinal chemistry expertise to be extremely valuable. This approach has substantially accelerated the identification and optimization of novel molecules for our key drug discovery programs and delivered candidates with first-in-class potential."

"We are very proud to have reached this important project milestone with Chronogen in under two years after initial target screening, further testament to the value generation that our knowledge-driven, integrated medicinal chemistry platform is bringing to our clients," said Dr. Mark Allen, senior vice president and managing director of TDR. "We stand to receive further milestones as the novel small molecules we have discovered jointly progress through clinical development."

The multiyear collaboration between Tripos and Chronogen, which was announced Jan. 13, 2004, combines Tripos' expertise in therapeutic medicinal chemistry and cutting-edge, proprietary informatics tools with Chronogen's proprietary in-vivo screening technologies to rapidly select novel molecules to develop as therapeutics for age-dependent diseases.

General

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning, among other things: (1) expectations regarding the selection, development and potential of new leads and molecules that might lead to the development of new therapeutics; (2) expectations regarding existing and future opportunities for drug discovery collaborations, including with Chronogen; and (3) expectations regarding the progress of molecules into clinical development candidates. These statements are based upon numerous assumptions which Tripos cannot control and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ. These statements should be understood in light of the risk factors set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitations those factors set forth in the Company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2005, and from time to time in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as otherwise required under federal securities laws and the rules and regulations of the SEC, we do not have any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise.

About Chronogen Inc.

Having a remarkable know-how in the genetics of aging, Chronogen has initially developed a series of unique, rapid and reliable screening assays aimed at the identification of small molecule modulators mimicking the genetic effects obtained in C. elegans and mouse mutants. Identified longevity target genes have been used to screen drug candidates that could modulate oxidative stress and lipid metabolism in major cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders. Drugs that are cellular oxidative stress modulators with a new mechanism of action allows Chronogen to target different pathological situations from acute and severe conditions like reperfusion-injury to more chronic diseases such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease or Atherosclerosis. Compared to free radical scavengers or other detoxifying agents, they directly modulate reactive oxygen species production and detoxification at an early stage to prevent damage and stop disease initiation as well as progression. More information on Chronogen can be found on: http://www.chronogen.com.

About Tripos, Inc.

Tripos (Nasdaq:TRPS) combines leading-edge technology and innovative science to deliver consistently superior chemistry-research products and services for the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and other life science industries. Within Tripos' Discovery Informatics (DI) business, the company provides software products and consulting services to develop, manage, analyze and share critical drug discovery information. Within Tripos' Discovery Research (DR) business, Tripos' medicinal chemists and research scientists partner directly with clients in their research initiatives, leveraging state-of-the-art information technologies and research facilities. Further information on Tripos can be found at http://www.tripos.com.

Tripos and the Tripos logo are registered trademarks of Tripos, Inc., and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries.

All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.

Source: Business Wire

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