press release archive

Rigel to Present at the Rodman & Renshaw Techvest Healthcare Conference on October 26, 2004

South San Francisco, CA - October 22, 2004

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: RIGL) will present at the Rodman & Renshaw Techvest Healthcare Conference on Tuesday, October 26th at 8:20 a.m. (Eastern time) at The Waldorf Astoria in New York City. Raul R. Rodriguez, Rigel’s executive vice president and chief operating officer will discuss Rigel’s clinical trials addressing allergy and hepatitis C, as well as, outline the company’s current plans to initiate clinical development for at least one new indication each year.

To access the live audio and slide webcast or the subsequent archived recording, log on to www.rigel.com/rigel/events. Please connect to Rigel's website several minutes prior to the start of the conference call to ensure adequate time for any software download that may be necessary.

About Rigel (www.rigel.com)
Rigel's mission is to become a source of novel, small-molecule drugs to address large, unmet medical needs. The company has initiated four development programs: asthma/allergy, hepatitis C, rheumatoid arthritis and oncology. Rigel has begun clinical testing of its first two product candidates, R112 for allergic rhinitis and R803 for hepatitis C, and expects to begin clinical trials of R406 for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis by the end of 2004, which is expected to be followed by clinical trials for product candidates in oncology and asthma.

This press release contains "forward-looking" statements, including statements related to Rigel's plans to pursue clinical development of product candidates and the timing thereof and the potential efficacy of product candidates. Any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Words such as "will," "plans," "intends," "expects" and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause Rigel's results to differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements, including risks that early-stage drug discovery and development might not successfully generate good product candidates and that the results of preliminary studies do not necessarily predict clinical or commercial success, and larger, later-stage clinical trials may fail to confirm the results observed in the preliminary studies, as well as other risks detailed from time to time in Rigel's SEC reports, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003 and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2004. Rigel does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements.

Contact: Jim Welch
Phone: 650.624.1176
Email: invrel@rigel.com