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Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. and Rigel, Inc. Sign Collaborative Agreement

San Diego, CA - February 10, 1998

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: NBIX) today announced an agreement to collaborate with privately held Rigel, Inc. to discover novel molecular targets involved in glial cell activation. Rigel, a recent start-up company located in Sunnyvale, CA, has developed a high-throughput functional genomics technology. This technology, originally developed by Dr. Garry Nolan of Stanford University, rapidly identifies proteins involved in intracellular signal transduction pathways

Neurocrine has an active research effort in neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases and currently has two drugs in advanced clinical trials for multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease. A common feature of a number of neurodegenerative diseases, both acute and chronic, is the activation of glial cells. Therefore, inhibitors of gliosis may prove useful in the treatment of a number of these devastating diseases.

Under the terms of the agreement, Neurocrine will gain access to Rigel's proprietary technology including unique intracellular combinatorial libraries designed to allow screening of glial cell signaling pathways at speeds greater than 50,000 cells per second. Rigel will also gain access to several of Neurocrine's technologies, proprietary chemical libraries, personnel and resources, which Rigel will use in the development of its internal development programs. Rigel currently has lead programs in the areas of allergy, immunology, and apoptosis

"Rigel is one of the most exciting biotech companies that I have seen started in the last several years. The ability to collaborate with them in one of our core areas of research is certain to significantly accelerate our drug development efforts," said Gary A. Lyons, President and CEO of Neurocrine Biosciences.