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ACHILLION PHARMACEUTICALS RAISES $41 MILLION IN A PRIVATE PLACEMENT

Funding to Support Continued Lead Clinical Program Development, Advancement of Pipeline Compounds and Technology Platform

New Haven, CT, January 28, 2002

Achillion Pharmaceuticals, a privately held pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative anti-infective agents, today announced that it has closed a $41 million private round of financing, placing its preferred stock to a select group of investors led by SG Capital Partners, LLC and Bear Stearns Health Innoventures, LP.

Also participating in this financing round are investors from Achillion's prior financing, including Atlas Venture, Schroder Ventures, Advent International and Connecticut Innovations, and new investors including KBL Healthcare, ING Furman Selz, Pacific Growth Equities, Oakwood Medical, Webster Financial and GE Capital.

"This $41 million financing reflects sustained and substantial support by a sophisticated group of investors, validating Achillion's business and financing strategy, proprietary technology, product candidates and management team" said William G. Rice, Achillion's Chief Executive Officer. "Our ability to attract this magnitude and quality of investment, given this challenging financial environment, is rewarding. With this financing we will have sufficient capital to continue to achieve key milestones, particularly in the clinical development of our lead product candidate, beta-L-Fd4C, for the treatment of both chronic hepatitis B and HIV infections."

In less than two years from beginning operations, Achillion has raised $65 million in equity financing. This current financing provides sufficient capital to drive forward the clinical development plan of beta-L-Fd4C through phase 2 human trials and to continue the advancement of the Company's proprietary Zinc Finger Targeting (ZFT) discovery platform. With ZFT, Achillion identifies zinc finger proteins required for the replication of HIV and other pathogens, and applies ZFT to design small molecules that inhibit the function of those protein targets without affecting human cells. ZFT incorporates novel target identification, state-of-the-art high speed chemical synthesis and high throughput screening to produce novel pre-clinical candidates designed to treat multiple diseases within the $33 billion infectious disease market, particularly by addressing the growing worldwide challenge of drug resistance.

"In the 23 months since the company's launch, Achillion has met key milestones with unprecedented speed, both in the clinical development of beta-L-Fd4C and in its ZFT platform to construct a compelling anti-infective drug pipeline," commented Marios Fotiadis, of SG Capital Partners. Stefan Ryser, Ph.D., Managing Partner of Bear Stearns Health Innoventures, continued, "We are very excited by Achillion's success, and we look forward to the continued development of the Company's pipeline, particularly advancement of the Company's lead product candidate, as well as further pre-clinical development of its broader pipeline and ZFT platform, which well positions Achillion to discover new targets and drug candidates to address a number of infectious diseases with significant unmet medical needs."

Achillion is a privately held pharmaceutical company dedicated to addressing the emerging issue of drug resistance in infectious diseases. The Company focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative small molecule anti-infective agents, with a particular emphasis on antiviral drugs to treat diseases caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B and C viruses (HBV and HCV) and herpes viruses. Achillion's drug development pipeline is led by ACH-126,443 (beta-L-Fd4C), which is currently completing a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial in chronic hepatitis B patients. Achillion's drug discovery expertise embodies both a conventional medicinal chemistry approach directed at classic anti-infective molecular targets, and its novel Zinc Finger Targeting (ZFT) drug discovery technology focusing on novel inhibitors of proteins containing zinc finger motifs.

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Such statements are only predictions and the company's actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such differences include the risk that products that appeared promising in early research and clinical trials do not demonstrate safety or efficacy in larger-scale clinical trials and the risk that the company will not obtain approval to market its products.

© Copyright 2002 Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.