SPRESI Reaction Database Joins Symyx Technologies, Inc. Reaction Databases to Provide Unparalleled Synthesis Planning Support

SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwire - February 10, 2009) - Symyx Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMMX) today announced that the SPRESI structure and reaction database from InfoChem GmbH is now available to chemists via the Symyx Isentris® data access, analysis, and decision support system. In combination with existing Symyx reaction databases, which provide extensive coverage of reactions, detailed experimental methodology, and links to online citations and in-house reaction data, the SPRESI database offers synthesis chemists a high quality and cost-effective synthesis planning solution.

Through molecule or reaction searches that include reaction substructure, exact match, transformation, and reaction mapping searches, researchers can simultaneously query across multiple in-house and Symyx-provided reaction databases. Citation linking to source literature, automatic links to commercial compound availability, display of retro-synthetic schemes, and the use of the novel synthesis planner to build multi-step reaction plans enable synthesis chemists to quickly and easily design successful reaction plans.

The SPRESI database extends the existing set of reactions available from Symyx by providing access to an additional 6 million structures, 3.8 million reactions, and 28 million factual data entries extracted from 636,000 references and 164,000 patents published from 1974.

"In combination with Symyx's comprehensive collection of factual databases supporting compound preparation, transformations, and synthetic methodology, the high quality SPRESI database offers research scientists a wealth of valuable reaction planning information at an economical price," said Dr. Trevor Heritage, president of Symyx Software. "With Isentris, scientists only need a single application to explore a broad range of high quality reactions from Symyx as well as their own in-house reaction data."

"As one of the world's largest reaction collections, the SPRESI database brings together a high quality collection of structures, reactions, and properties abstracted from leading journals and patents," said Dr. Peter Loew, president of InfoChem GmbH. "SPRESI is an excellent resource to support scientists' synthesis planning workflows."

The SPRESI (SPeicherung und REcherche Strukturchemischer Information) database was originally developed in the 1970s by the All-Union Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (VINITI) in Moscow in collaboration with the Zentrale Informationsverarbeitung Chemie (ZIC) in Berlin. The data collection includes chemical structures, reactions, chemical/ physical properties, keywords, and factual data abstracted from the most important journals in the field of organic chemistry. InfoChem GmbH has maintained and distributed the collection since 1991.

For more information about other Symyx content and workflow solutions for chemists, visit www.symyx.com or contact inforequest@symyx.com.

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.

About InfoChem

InfoChem GmbH (www.infochem.de), based in Munich, Germany, is a market leader in structure and reaction handling and retrieval. Founded in 1989, InfoChem focuses on the production and marketing of new chemical information products, including structural and reaction databases, and the development of software tools required for these applications. The main software tools provided are the InfoChem Fast Search Engine (ICFSE), the InfoChem Chemistry Cartridge for Oracle (ICCARTRIDGE), reaction center identification (ICMAP) and the widely used InfoChem reaction classification algorithm CLASSIFY. In addition, InfoChem distributes one of the largest structural and reaction files worldwide, currently containing 6.0 million organic and organometallic compounds and facts and 3.8 million reactions covering the chemical literature published since 1974 (SPRESI). InfoChem's customers are large chemical and pharmaceutical companies as well as small high-potential start-ups worldwide. Springer (Heidelberg) has held a majority interest in InfoChem since 1991. Since September 2003, Springer has belonged to the investment groups Cinven and Candover.

For further information on InfoChem products and solutions, visit www.infochem.de.

Symyx 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.