<PAGE>
EXHIBIT 99
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact Business Contact
Jerry Parrott Scott Horvitz
Jerry Parrott & Associates Vice President, Finance & Administration
703-757-0950 or [email protected] 3-Dimensional Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
------------------
Pager: 800-204-4337 610-458-6043 or [email protected]
---------------
3DP ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT WITH CENTOCOR, INC.
Centocor Acquires Worldwide Rights to Orally Active Direct Thrombin Inhibitors
Exton, PA - January 2, 2001 - 3-Dimensional Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: DDDP)
today announced that it has reached an agreement with Centocor, Inc., a wholly
owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, under which Centocor has acquired
worldwide rights to 3DP's orally active direct thrombin inhibitor program,
including the lead anticoagulant compound, 3DP-4815, currently in Phase I
clinical development.
Under terms of the agreement, 3DP receives an upfront cash payment of $6
million from Centocor, and further payments of up to $44 million based on the
achievement of certain milestones for the first compound developed and approved
for marketing for any indication. 3DP will receive additional milestone payments
from Centocor for subsequent indications approved for the first product, and/or
if a second product is developed and approved under the agreement. In addition,
3DP will receive royalties on sales of any products marketed under the
agreement. The agreement is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino
Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended.
Thrombin is an enzyme that converts fibrinogen to fibrin, causing blood
clotting. Excessive blood clotting, or thrombosis, is a significant factor in
cardiovascular and related diseases. It is estimated that more than 5 million
people in the United States are treated each year for thrombotic conditions
associated with heart attack, stroke, unstable angina, pulmonary embolism,
bypass surgery, angioplasty, atrial fibrillation and venous thrombosis
associated with surgical procedures
Centocor will be responsible for development and worldwide commercialization of
all compounds under the agreement. For the deep vein thrombosis indication,
however, 3DP retains an option to co-develop and co-promote with Centocor in the
United States. Centocor and 3DP will also collaborate on a research program to
continue 3DP's effort to design and elucidate back-up and follow-on compounds to
3DP-4815.
<PAGE>
"3DP's compounds represent a new chemical class of orally active direct thrombin
inhibitors which appear to offer promise in a number of important disease areas.
3DP-4815 has performed very well in Phase I by demonstrating good
pharmacokinetic, safety and tolerability characteristics, as well as suggesting
preliminary signs of efficacy," said David C. U'Prichard, Ph.D., 3DP Chief
Executive Officer. "We discovered 3DP-4815, and several follow-on thrombin
inhibitors, using a close integration of structure-based drug design and our
proprietary DirectedDiversity(R) combinatorial chemistry technology. We look
forward to working with Centocor to further develop these compounds."
Centocor, Inc. is a leading biopharmaceutical company that creates, acquires and
markets cost-effective therapies that yield long-term benefits for patients and
the healthcare community. Its products, developed primarily through monoclonal
antibody technology, help physicians deliver innovative treatments to improve
human health and restore patients' quality of life. Centocor is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, the worldwide manufacturer of healthcare
products.
3-Dimensional Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (http://www.3dp.com) is a post-genomics drug
------------------
discovery company dedicated to revolutionizing small-molecule discovery. 3DP
has developed and integrated a set of proprietary technologies called
DiscoverWorks(TM), which accelerates and improves the drug discovery process and
capitalizes on opportunities arising from human genome sequencing. 3DP
technologies can be applied to virtually any disease target, and can produce
compounds suitable for drug development in a more timely and cost-effective
manner and with a higher probability of success than conventional methods. 3DP
is using its technologies both to assist collaborators in discovering drug
candidates, and to discover and develop its own drug candidates.
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical are "forward-
looking" statements which involve a high degree of risk and uncertainty. Such
statements are only predictions, and the actual events or results may differ
materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Factors
that could cause or contribute to differences include, but are not limited to,
risks associated with clinical trials and product development, the long and
arduous process of obtaining regulatory approvals, protection and enforcement of
relevant patents and proprietary rights, and development and availability of
competitive products or technologies. Certain of these factors and others are
more fully described in the Company's Registration
<PAGE>
Statement on Form S-1, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
# # #
