ANACOR PHARMACEUTICALS NAMES DR. JACOB J. PLATTNER HEAD OF RESEARCH

Distinguished Researcher to Lead Next Phase of Drug Discovery

Palo Alto, Calif., March 1, 2004 - Anacor Pharmaceuticals, an early-stage pharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of novel anti-infectives for the treatment of serious infections caused by bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites, today announced that Jacob J. Plattner, Ph.D. has joined the company as Senior Vice President of Research and Development.

Dr. Plattner will focus on the continued development of technology initially created by Anacor Co-Founders Dr. Lucy Shapiro at Stanford University and Dr. Stephen Benkovic at Pennsylvania State University. Anacor is using this research base to develop drugs for relevant biowarfare pathogens such as anthrax and tularemia, hospital infections caused by staphylococcus and streptococcus, large public health diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria, and viral diseases such as hepatitis.

Dr. Plattner brings more than 30 years of both industry and academic research in anti-infectives to Anacor. Prior to joining Anacor, Dr. Plattner served as Vice President of Small Molecule Discovery at Chiron Corporation where he oversaw Chiron's entire small molecule discovery research effort, including high throughput screening, new lead discovery, combinatorial chemistry, medicinal chemistry and preclinical development programs. Before Chiron, Dr. Plattner enjoyed a 20-year career at Abbott Laboratories, most recently holding the position of Divisional Vice President, responsible for directing fully integrated project teams focusing on antibacterials, antifungals, natural products, anticancer agents and antivirals. In the area of antivirals, Dr. Plattner initiated the anti-HIV discovery research program at Abbott and supervised the research effort that led to two commercial HIV protease inhibitors.

Dr. Plattner began his career as a chemist with Pfizer, Inc., and received his B.S. from the University of Illinois, and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Plattner has served on the Division of Medicinal Chemistry's Award Committee and the Long Range Planning Committee. He has organized a number of symposia at major meetings, including the National Medicinal Chemistry Symposium, the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy and the Medicinal Chemistry Gordon Research Conference. He also served as Chairman of Gordon Research Conference on Medicinal Chemistry. He has been a section editor for Annual Reports in Medicinal Chemistry for the last 12 years and is currently co-editor of Current Opinion in Investigational Drugs. He is also the author and co-author of more than 150 publications and patents and has contributed a number of invited papers and talks.

"Anacor is on the leading edge of important research in identifying and developing novel antimicrobials, and I look forward to leading its next phase of development," stated Dr. Plattner. "Anacor has made significant strides in anti-infective research, and I believe that my expertise in genomics and drug design will help the company in its mission to bring a new class of therapeutics to market."

"Dr. Plattner is one of the most well-respected and accomplished researchers working in anti-infectives today and his addition to the Anacor team represents a significant endorsement for our technology and progress to date," said David Perry, CEO of Anacor Pharmaceuticals. "We are honored that an expert in anti-infectives of Dr. Plattner's caliber recognizes the enormous potential of Anacor's work. I look forward to his contributions to accelerate the development of novel therapeutics."

About Anacor
Anacor Pharmaceuticals is an early-stage pharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of novel anti-infectives for the treatment of serious infections caused by bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites. The company's technology is based on work originally conducted by Dr. Lucy Shapiro at Stanford University and Dr. Stephen Benkovic at Pennsylvania State University. Anacor is developing drugs for biowarfare pathogens such as anthrax and tularemia, hospital infections caused by staphylococcus and streptococcus, large public health diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria, and viral diseases such as hepatitis. The company's research is funded in part by a joint contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC). Privately held and based in Palo Alto, Calif., Anacor is funded by Aberdare Ventures and Rho Ventures. For more information, visit www.anacor.com.