SAN DIEGO, Dec. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Houghten Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (HPI)
(Nasdaq: HPIP) today announced that Ronald R. Tuttle, Ph.D., is retiring as
chief scientific officer (CSO) of the company, effective immediately.  His
responsibilities as CSO have been have been assumed by Bernard D. King, MD,
the company's executive vice president of biological sciences and development.
    Dr. Tuttle, who reported to the chief executive officer, will remain on
the company's board of directors and scientific advisory board (SAB).  He will
also serve as a consultant on the development of HPI's cytokine regulating
agent (CRA(TM)) program.  CRAs are a class of patented compounds, discovered
by Dr. Tuttle and other HPI scientists in 1993, that have exhibited potent
anti-inflammatory and metabolic effects via interaction with a unique receptor
pathway.  The results of a recently completed preliminary dose tolerance study
of the most advanced compound of this series, HP 228, in obese, Type II
diabetics, show no significant safety concerns in the 17 patients who received
HP 228.
    "It has been a pleasure working closely with Ron during the past three
years," stated Robert S. Whitehead, HPI's president and chief executive
officer.  "He has made a tremendous contribution to HPI's scientific
accomplishments, as well as to the success of several pharmaceutical companies
over the past 30 years.  I look forward to his continued assistance on the
board, the SAB and in the ongoing development of our CRA program."
    HPI is a drug discovery company, which utilizes combinatorial chemistry
and combinatorial biosynthesis technologies to create novel small-molecule
drug candidates.  The company leverages its technology platform by entering
into pharmaceutical alliances, enabling partners to access HPI's technologies
in exchange for licensing fees, potential milestone payments and royalties, or
by establishing joint-discovery alliances with biotechnology companies.  HPI
also uses its drug discovery technologies in its internal development
programs.
    Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters
discussed in the news release are forward-looking statements that involve
risks and uncertainties, including whether the proposed product can be
successfully formulated, scaled-up, developed and commercialized, whether
regulatory approvals can be obtained, the impact of competitive products and
pricing, and other risks detailed from time to time in HPI's Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) filings.  These forward-looking statements represent
HPI's judgment as of the date of this release.  Actual results may differ
materially from those projected.  HPI disclaims, however, any intent or
obligation to update these forward-looking statements

    HPI's releases are on the World Wide Web at http://www.houghten.com and PR
Newswire's fax-on-demand service at 1-800-758-5804, extension 374050.

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