ANACOR NAMES CHRISTINE GRAY-SMITH CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Palo Alto, Calif. - July 18, 2007 - Anacor Pharmaceuticals, a privately held company, announced today that it has appointed Christine Gray-Smith as its senior vice president and chief financial officer.

"We're delighted that Chris has joined the Anacor team. Chris' experience in both public and private biotech companies will be of tremendous value in managing our financial and other operational functions, as well as in helping Anacor accomplish its strategic and financial goals," said David Perry, Anacor's chief executive officer. "Anacor has achieved a number of milestones in 2007, including signing a partnership agreement with Schering-Plough and publishing promising data on our lead anti-fungal compound, AN2690, in the June issue of Science. Chris' expertise will be valuable as we further develop our product pipeline and expand our operations to achieve our goal of becoming a fully integrated pharmaceutical company."

Ms. Gray-Smith most recently served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of CoTherix Inc., which was acquired by Actelion Ltd in January 2007. At CoTherix, she managed all finance and accounting functions, as well as investor relations, information technology and human resources. Prior to CoTherix, Ms. Gray-Smith was chief financial officer at Triad Therapeutics, Inc. and Calydon, Inc. She also held vice-president posts at Sugen, Inc. and WorldTalk Corporation and worked for nine years with the public accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP.

"Anacor's combination of experienced executives and novel product candidates makes it an exciting opportunity," said Ms. Gray-Smith. "I look forward to helping the company continue to thrive as it further develops its boron chemistry platform for applications in the anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and antibiotic markets."

Ms. Gray-Smith holds an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, as well as a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

About Anacor Pharmaceuticals
Anacor, a privately held, clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, is developing novel product candidates for inflammatory and infectious diseases based on its proprietary, small-molecule, boron-based chemistry. AN2690, Anacor's lead product candidate, is completing Phase 2 trials for onychomycosis, a fungal infection of the nail and nailbed. Anacor has entered into an exclusive, worldwide agreement with Schering-Plough Corporation to develop and commercialize AN2690. Anacor has a pipeline of other anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial compounds, including AN2728 and AN0128. For more information, visit the company's website at http://www.anacor.com.