LIFE SCIENCE INDUSTRY VETERANS JION ANACOR PHARMACEUTICALS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Palo Alto, Calif., May 11, 2005 - Anacor Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company developing novel pharmaceuticals for dermatology, today announced that Richard J. Markham, partner, Care Capital and Anders Hove, general partner, Venrock Associates have joined the company's board of directors. Anacor also announced today that it has raised $25 million in a Series C financing, co-led by Care Capital and Venrock Associates.

Prior to joining Care Capital, Markham was vice chairman of the management board and COO of Aventis and CEO of Aventis Pharma. Before joining Aventis, Markham served as president and COO of Merck & Co., Inc. During his 20 year career with Merck, he was also responsible for Merck's European pharmaceutical business as senior vice president and served as vice president of marketing for Merck's Sharp & Dohme Division. Markham has served as a trustee of the Health Care Institute of New Jersey, and on the board of directors of the Pharmaceuticals Research and Manufacturers Association and of Commerce Bank of Kansas City.

Anders Hove joined Venrock Associates in January 2004. Prior to Venrock, Hove served as CEO of Bellevue Asset Management and had responsibility for managing BB Biotech, an investment company with $1.6 billion invested in public and private biotech companies. In this capacity, Hove led numerous transactions in both private and public companies. He is a former director of The Medicines Company, Inc., Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Virologic, Inc. Before joining Bellevue Asset Management, Hove held executive positions with the medical and clinical department and the business operations of the pharmaceuticals division of Ciba-Geigy, which is now Novartis.

"Dick Markham and Anders Hove bring decades of experience building successful biotechnology ventures and working with some of the world's most respected pharmaceutical companies," stated David Perry, CEO of Anacor. "The addition of Dick and Anders to the Anacor team adds significant value at this important juncture for the company as we evaluate our first products in clinical trials."

About Anacor
Anacor Pharmaceuticals is engaged in the discovery and development of novel drugs based on proprietary boron chemistry. Anacor is currently leveraging its expertise and intellectual property to develop and commercialize drugs for dermatology. 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. Privately held and based in Palo Alto, Calif., Anacor is funded by Aberdare Ventures, Care Capital, Rho Ventures and Venrock Associates. For more information, visit www.anacor.com.