CRGN Curagen Corp. (MM)

CuraGen Announces Appointments to the Board of Directors NEW HAVEN, Conn., June 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CuraGen Corporation (NASDAQ:CRGN) is pleased to announce the appointments of Michael J. Astrue, J.D. and Frank M. Armstrong, M.B., Ch.B. to its Board of Directors. Mr. Astrue's appointment to CuraGen's Board of Directors is effective as of June 13, 2005. Mr. Astrue is an experienced biotechnology executive with a strong operational and public policy background. Most recently, Mr. Astrue was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Transkaryotic Therapies in Cambridge, MA, and prior to joining Transkaryotic, was Vice President and General Counsel for Biogen, Inc. From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Astrue also served as Chairman of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. Before becoming a partner at the law offices of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C., Mr. Astrue served as Associate Counsel to the President where he advised former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. Bush, and held several positions at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Mr. Astrue received his Bachelors degree in English and Philosophy from Yale University, and attained a J.D. from Harvard Law School. "CuraGen is a very promising biotech company with a strong portfolio of drugs," stated Mr. Astrue. "I look forward to working with the Company and its Board of Directors." As previously announced, Dr. Armstrong joined CuraGen's Board of Directors, effective March 15, 2005. Currently, Dr. Armstrong is Chief Executive Officer of Bioaccelerate Inc, and previously served as Chief Operating Officer. Prior to this position, Dr. Armstrong was CEO of Provensis, and CEO of Phoqus, a private Drug Delivery Company, Head of Worldwide Product Development for Bayer, and Senior Vice President of the Medical Research and Communications Group at Zeneca Pharmaceuticals. During his career, Dr. Armstrong has been responsible for the development and approval of several drugs that span a broad range of therapeutic areas. He has extensive experience in all aspects of drug evaluation, clinical development, regulatory affairs and commercialization, as well as portfolio management. Dr. Armstrong received his M.B., Ch.B. from the Royal Postgraduate Medical School of London, and is a member of the Royal College of Physicians and the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Physicians. "I believe that CuraGen's clinical and preclinical pipeline has great potential, and I am pleased to help bring the Company toward success," stated Dr. Armstrong. "We are delighted and honored that both Michael and Frank will bring their extraordinary experience to CuraGen," stated Patrick J. Zenner, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of CuraGen. "These individuals possess unique insight into the biotech industry and represent great additions to the Board." About CuraGen CuraGen Corporation (NASDAQ:CRGN) is a genomics-based pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the lives of patients by developing a pipeline of novel protein, antibody, and small molecule therapeutics in the areas of oncology, inflammatory diseases, and diabetes. CuraGen has established broad development alliances with Abgenix, TopoTarget, and Bayer, and its experienced preclinical and clinical teams are advancing the Company's pipeline of products for unmet medical needs. CuraGen's technology and expertise have been used in partnerships with more than a dozen leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies including Bayer, Biogen, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Hoffmann-La Roche and Pfizer. The Company is located in New Haven and Branford, CT and additional information is available at http://www.curagen.com/. Safe Harbor This press release contains forward-looking statements including statements about the potential of CuraGen's clinical and preclinical pipeline and CuraGen's ability to achieve success. We caution investors that there can be no assurance that actual results or business conditions will not differ materially from those projected or suggested in such forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the following: the risk that any one or more of the drug development programs of CuraGen will not proceed as planned for technical, scientific or commercial reasons or due to patient enrollment issues or based on new information from nonclinical or clinical studies or from other sources; the success of competing products and technologies; technological uncertainty and product development risks; uncertainty of additional funding; CuraGen's history of incurring losses and the uncertainty of achieving profitability; CuraGen's stage of development as a genomics-based pharmaceutical company; government regulation; patent infringement claims against CuraGen's products, processes and technologies; the ability to protect CuraGen's patents and proprietary rights; uncertainties relating to commercialization rights; and product liability exposure. Please refer to CuraGen's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2005 for a complete description of these risks. CuraGen disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward- looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, unless required by law. CuraGen Contact: Glenn Schulman, Pharm.D. (888) GENOMICS DATASOURCE: CuraGen Corporation CONTACT: Glenn Schulman, Pharm.D. of CuraGen, , +1-888-GENOMICS Web site: http://www.curagen.com/

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