CuraGen Corporation Names New CEO

BRANFORD, Conn., Sept. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CuraGen Corporation , a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology, announced today that Timothy M. Shannon, M.D., has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately, replacing Dr. Frank Armstrong. Dr. Armstrong will remain with the Company through the end of 2007, to assist with the transition, and will continue on CuraGen's Board of Directors until the Annual Stockholders Meeting in May 2008.

Dr. Shannon has extensive experience related to the research, development and commercialization of novel therapeutics, and has served as Executive Vice President of Research and Development and Chief Medical Officer of CuraGen since September 2002. During the past five years, CuraGen has refined its portfolio of early stage assets into a therapeutic pipeline under Dr. Shannon's leadership with the focus now on three oncology programs including velafermin, belinostat and CR011-vcMMAE.

"Tim has done an outstanding job of leading CuraGen's drug pipeline through development, and we are delighted that he is assuming the role of President and CEO of CuraGen at a time when there is significant potential for CuraGen to bring one or more of its drugs into Phase III in 2008," commented Mr. Robert E. Patricelli, Chairman of the Board of CuraGen.

"At the same time," Mr. Patricelli further commented, "I would like to thank Frank on behalf of the entire Board of Directors for stepping up from the board in March 2006 to become CEO at a transformational time in the history of CuraGen. During his time as CEO, CuraGen monetized its investment in 454 Life Sciences, focused the Company around its 3 lead products and strengthened the balance sheet. Frank's leadership has brought us to a stronger position today."

Dr. Shannon commented, "I am confident that CuraGen will be in a position to advance its first product into Phase III in 2008, and excited by what this, and the continued progress with our product portfolio, will mean for shareholders, patients, our employees, and other stakeholders. We expect to deliver important clinical trial results on velafermin, belinostat and CR011- vcMMAE over the next few months, which will we anticipate give us a clear view of what our best product opportunities will be in 2008 and beyond."

Prior to joining CuraGen in September 2002, Dr. Shannon served as Head and Senior Vice President of Global Medical Development at Bayer Pharmaceutical Group where he oversaw all aspects of clinical development and medical affairs for Bayer's portfolio from Phase I through to product registration and the market.

Dr. Shannon earned his B.A. in chemistry from Amherst College, and his M.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.

The Company also announced that in the third and fourth quarters of 2007 it will take corporate restructuring charges in connection with the selective elimination of positions of approximately $2.9 million composed primarily of severance and other related payments, operating lease obligations, and assets to be written off or disposed of.

In addition, CuraGen reconfirmed the upcoming clinical milestones related to its oncology pipeline including:

-- Top-line results in mid-October from the velafermin Phase II (CLN-12) randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial evaluating a single dose for the prevention of severe oral mucositis; -- Updated Phase II results from an ongoing trial evaluating belinostat in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel (BelCaP) for the treatment of ovarian cancer at the ACCR-NCI-EORTC International Conference in October; -- Phase I safety and efficacy results in October from an ongoing trial evaluating oral belinostat for the treatment of advanced solid tumors at the ACCR-NCI-EORTC International Conference; -- Initial results from an ongoing CR011-vcMMAE Phase I/II trial in October for the treatment of metastatic melanoma at the ACCR-NCI-EORTC International Conference; and -- Updated Phase II results from an ongoing trial evaluating belinostat monotherapy for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) or peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) in the fourth quarter of 2007.

About CuraGen

CuraGen Corporation is a dedicated clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing diverse approaches, including novel protein, antibody, antibody-drug conjugate and small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and for cancer supportive care. CuraGen is currently conducting clinical trials to investigate the potential of velafermin, belinostat and CR011-vcMMAE. By leveraging the drug development strengths cultivated over the years, CuraGen expects to make a difference by advancing its promising therapeutics to address the unmet medical needs of cancer patients. CuraGen Corporation is headquartered in Branford, Connecticut. For additional information please visit www.curagen.com.

Safe Harbor

Statements in this press release regarding management's future expectations, beliefs, intentions, goals, strategies, plans or prospects, including statements relating to the advancement of the Company's first product into Phase III, the timing of upcoming clinical trial results and the expected benefits of velafermin, belinostat and CR011-vcMMAE, may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "could increase the likelihood," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "is planned," "may," "should," "will," "will enable," "would be expected," "look forward," "may provide," "would" or similar terms, variations of such terms or the negative of those terms. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors including the risk that any one or more of CuraGen's drug development programs will not proceed as planned for technical, scientific or commercial reasons or due to patient enrollment issues or based on new information from nonclinical or clinical studies or from other sources, the success of competing products and technologies, CuraGen's stage of development as a biopharmaceutical company, government regulation and healthcare reform, technological uncertainty and product development risks, product liability exposure, uncertainty of additional funding, CuraGen's history of incurring losses and the uncertainty of achieving profitability, reliance on research collaborations and strategic alliances, competition, patent infringement claims against CuraGen's products, processes and technologies, CuraGen's ability to protect its patents and proprietary rights and uncertainties relating to commercialization rights, as well as those risks, uncertainties and factors referred to in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2007, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the section "Risk Factors," as well as other documents that may be filed by CuraGen from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result of such risks, uncertainties and factors, the Company's actual results may differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements discussed in or implied by the forward- looking statements contained herein. CuraGen is providing the information in this press release as of this date and assumes no obligations to update the information included in this press release or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

CuraGen Contact: Glenn Schulman, Pharm.D. Director of Investor Relations gschulman@curagen.com (888) 436-6642 CRGN-G

CuraGen Corporation

CONTACT: Glenn Schulman, Pharm.D., Director of Investor Relations ofCuraGen, +1-888-436-6642, gschulman@curagen.com

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