Accessing Symyx Technologies, Inc. Metabolite Database With Symyx Isentris Enhances Decision Support in Drug Metabolism Research

SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwire - February 03, 2009) - Symyx Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMMX) today announced that the latest release of the Symyx Metabolite database -- the largest and most comprehensive collection of drug metabolism data in the world -- is now available to pharmaceutical, agrochemical, and biotechnology researchers via the Symyx Isentris® data access, analysis, and decision support system, as well as the Web-based DiscoveryGate® content platform.

“Symyx Metabolite accelerates R&D productivity by making it possible for scientists to focus on the most therapeutically promising compounds -- those with the right metabolic profile -- early in the discovery process,” said Trevor Heritage, president of Symyx Software. “Using Symyx Metabolite’s structure-searchable metabolic schemes, biotransformation explorer, and easy-to-use query and browse tools, scientists can quickly explore the fate of parent compounds, their metabolites, and properties by leveraging in-house and Symyx database information.”

With Isentris, pharmacologists and medicinal chemists can now explore metabolic biotransformation pathways in ways previously not possible. Combining in-house and Symyx Metabolite data, scientists are free to navigate through possible biotransformation routes generated from known metabolites, intermediates, and their known transformations.

As biotransformation pathways are explored, Isentris also informs scientists if there are additional toxic, physicochemical, or biological properties known about the metabolites and their intermediates. Scientists can drill down to related molecule information to further explore and report on possible adverse effects or properties as a result of metabolism.

In a complimentary manner, as scientists browse in-house molecule information, they can launch the biotransformation explorer in Symyx Isentris to quickly investigate metabolic pathways and gain further insight into compounds of interest and their metabolic fate. Isentris eliminates the hard work of manually exploring and linking the data, enabling scientists to make rapid and more accurate assessments of pharmacological compounds.

Symyx Metabolite provides comprehensive coverage of xenobiotic transformations and metabolic schemes from respected published sources, as well as non-proprietary metabolism studies from new drug applications published by the US Food and Drug Administration. This information helps researchers better understand degradation pathways of known compounds within humans and lab animals.

Scientists who are currently using the Metabolite database in the ISIS environment can now migrate to the new-generation Symyx Isentris system, which, with this latest release of Metabolite, now offers access to all Symyx molecular property, chemical sourcing, synthetic methodology, bioactivity, and metabolism/toxicology databases using the latest Symyx chemistry engine.

For more information about the Symyx Metabolite database and other Symyx content and workflow solutions, visit www.symyx.com or contact inforequest@symyx.com. For information on migrating from ISIS to Isentris, visit www.symyx.com/isistransition.

About Symyx

Symyx Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMMX) enables companies in life sciences, chemicals and energy, and consumer and industrial products to transform scientific R&D and achieve extraordinary breakthroughs in productivity and return on investment. Symyx scientific information management enables scientists to design, execute, analyze, and report experimental results faster, easier, and less expensively. Symyx microscale, parallel experimentation enables a single scientist to rapidly explore a broad experimental space and develop comprehensive data sets in days -- not weeks or months. Symyx contract research delivers these advantages on a project basis and enables companies to increase R&D productivity, agility, and flexibility. Information about Symyx, including reports and other information filed by Symyx with the Securities and Exchange Commission, is available at www.symyx.com.

Symyx, DiscoveryGate, and Isentris are registered trademarks of Symyx Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.