SAN DIEGO, CA - (November 21, 2000) - Privately held Structural Bioinformatics, Inc. (SBI) announced today that De Novo Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, UK) has entered into an agreement to access multiple therapeutic target classes within SBI's SBdBase^TM, one of the databases within SBI's ProMax^TM 3-dimensional protein structure database series.

Dr. David Bailey, De Novo's Chief Executive Officer, said, "Three-dimensional protein structural information is critical to the drug discovery and design process of the 21st Century. The combination of SBI's proprietary protein structures with De Novo's powerful proprietary drug design algorithms extends our design platform from experimentally determined protein structures to the broader world of sequence-based information. The agreement with SBI will allow De Novo to expand its Drug Design Partnerships with early-stage genomics targets."

"The life sciences research community is now beginning to accept and demand the types of products and services we offer," said Dr. Edward T. Maggio, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of SBI. "We are pleased to be working with De Novo Pharmaceuticals as further validation of the value and utility of large-scale protein structural information as we assist De Novo in meeting their customers' discovery objectives."

De Novo Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
De Novo Pharmaceuticals uses its proprietary computational software for drug design to create novel, patentable lead molecules as candidates for drug development either through its in-house research or with its partners. De Novo's proprietary algorithms can convert information from structural genomics and medicinal chemistry rapidly into new chemical designs, maximizing value within a pharmaceutical partner's research portfolio.

De Novo has existing collaborations with British Biotechnology Ltd. and Aventis Pharma Inc. under its 'Drug Design Partnership Program'.

Structural Bioinformatics, Inc.
SBI is a world leader in computational proteomics -- the large-scale generation and use of protein structure and protein structural information. The Company has developed advanced technologies to generate highly refined 3-dimensional structural models of proteins from primary genetic information and commercializes these technologies through its structural database products and through drug discovery collaborations with leading pharmaceutical companies. SBI has offices in San Diego, Cambridge, MA, and Hørsholm, Denmark.