Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. Awarded Grant to Develop Hypocretin Treatment for Narcolepsy

San Diego, CA - December 18, 2001

Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. announced today that it has received a Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)to develop a treatment for narcolepsy. This grant will help fund research in a collaborative effort between Neurocrine and the laboratory of Dr. Emmanuel Mignot, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Director, Center for Narcolepsy, Stanford University School of Medicine/Sleep Research Center.

Dr. Mignot and his colleagues were the first to discover the link between the hypocretin system and narcolepsy, a sleep disorder. The development of an orally active, small molecule agonist to the hypocretin-2 receptor may provide a suitable therapy for patients with narcolepsy.

"In addition to our insomnia program with NBI-34060, which is in Phase III clinical testing, this STTR grant allows Neurocrine to continue to build upon our existing knowledge of sleep disorders," said Paul J. Conlon, Ph.D., Vice President Discovery Research at Neurocrine Biosciences.

In humans with narcolepsy there appears to be a loss of hypocretin, a neuropeptide important in the control of sleep. Neurocrine scientists will use high throughput screens to identify small molecule hypocretin-2 receptor agonists with good potency and efficacy. These small molecule agonists will be further optimized utilizing Neurocrine's Multi-Channel Technology which employs high throughput parallel synthesis, in combination with classical medicinal chemistry and computational chemistry.

Narcolepsy is a disabling sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness and abnormal manifestations of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, including cataplexy, which is a sudden loss of strength in voluntary muscles, sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucinations. The daytime sleepiness frequently causes sufferers to fall asleep while they are in the middle of an activity.

Cataplexy comes on as an immediate attack that lasts for minutes and is triggered by intense emotions ranging from laughter to anger. The patient can lose control of multiple muscle groups including neck,arms and legs during an attack. The National Sleep Foundation reports that the symptoms from narcolepsy can also result in changes or a loss of employment, physical restrictions and social withdrawal. A loss of self-esteem, learning difficulties and depression can result. The disease affects about 1 in 2,000 individuals.

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. is a product-based biopharmaceutical company focused on neurological and endocrine diseases and disorders. Our product candidates address some of the largest pharmaceutical markets in the world including insomnia, anxiety, depression, malignant brain tumors and peripheral cancers, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, irritable bowel syndrome, eating disorders, pain, stroke, and certain female health disorders. Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. news releases are available through the company's website via the Internet at www.neurocrine.com .