press release archive

Rigel to Present at Fourth Annual Needham Biotechnology Conference

South San Francisco, CA - May 23, 2005

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: RIGL) today announced that James M. Gower, the company’s chairman and chief executive officer, is scheduled to present a corporate overview at the Fourth Annual Needham Biotechnology Conference on Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 1:30 p.m. EDT in New York. Mr. Gower will update investors with respect to the company’s clinical and other research and development activities.

To access the live audio webcast or the subsequent archived recording, log on to www.rigel.com/rigel/events. A webcast replay will be available immediately after the presentation. Please connect to Rigel's website several minutes prior to the start of the live webcast 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. We have four research and development programs investigating treatments for asthma/allergy, rheumatoid arthritis, oncology and hepatitis C. Our strategy is to initiate clinical trials with at least one new product candidate annually and to pursue partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for late-stage clinical development and commercialization of those product candidates.

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 "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 associated with the timing and success of clinical trials and the commercialization of product candidates, 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, 2004 and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2005. Rigel does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements.