LA JOLLA, Calif., Jan. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- It was announced today that
Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq NNM: AGPH) and Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT)
have granted F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. (Roche) exclusive marketing rights for
the anti-HIV drug VIRACEPT(R) (nelfinavir mesylate) in Europe and other
territories outside North America, Japan and Asia.  For the marketing rights,
Roche will pay to Agouron and JT a total of $40 million plus royalites on
Roche's sales of VIRACEPT.
    Under terms of a binding letter of intent, Roche will share responsibility
for obtaining rapid approval of VIRACEPT in Europe and other countries outside
the exclusive marketing territories of Agouron (U.S., Canada and Mexico) and
JT (Japan and Asia).  Roche will immediately pay a total of $18 million to
Agouron and JT and will pay an additional $22 million to the two companies
when VIRACEPT is first approved in Europe.  Thereafter, Roche will pay to
Agouron and JT royalties based on Roche's sales of VIRACEPT.
    Agouron filed a New Drug Application for VIRACEPT with the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration last month.  Marketing applications are expected to be
filed in major European countries later this year.
    "Roche has established a unique marketing presence in the field of HIV
disease," said Peter Johnson, Agouron's president and chief executive officer.
"We are delighted that in many key countries of the world, VIRACEPT will be
the beneficiary of Roche's strengths in this field."
    VIRACEPT is a synthetic chemical compound designed to inhibit HIV protease
-- an enzyme that plays an essential role in the replication of HIV.  VIRACEPT
is being developed by Agouron in collaboration with the pharmaceutical
division of Japan Tobacco Inc.
    Roche is a leading research intensive health care company that discovers,
develops and markets prescription drugs in major therapeutic areas including
oncology, virology, infectious diseases, cardiology, transplantation, the
nervous system and metabolic diseases.
    Japan Tobacco Inc., a diversified company with annual revenues in excess
of $25 billion and assets exceeding $18 billion, entered the pharmaceutical
business in 1987.  In the field of ethical pharmaceuticals, JT is currently
engaged in clinical development of various drugs, including those for the
treatment of dementia, asthma, and angina pectoris, and launched a 5HT3
antagonist as an anti-emetic in Japan in 1994.  JT presently conducts drug
discovery research at its new Central Pharmaceutical Research Institute in
Osaka, Japan.
    Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a pioneer and leader in technologies
permitting the rational design of novel, small molecule drugs based upon the
molecular structures of proteins which play key roles in human disease.
Agouron is currently applying these technologies to the design and development
of novel drugs for treatment of cancer, AIDS, and other serious diseases.

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