Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. To Present At Bank of America Annual Healthcare Conference On May 17th, 2006

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., May 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that James M. Gower, the company’s chairman and chief executive officer, is scheduled to present at the Bank of America Annual Healthcare Conference 2006 on Wednesday, May 17th at 2:40 p.m. PDT. The conference will be held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas.

To access the live audio webcast or the subsequent archived recording, log on to www.rigel.com/rigel/events. Please connect to Rigel’s website several minutes prior to the start of the live webcast to ensure adequate time for any software download that may be necessary.

About Rigel (www.rigel.com)

Rigel is a clinical-stage drug development company that discovers and develops novel, small-molecule drugs for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, cancer and viral diseases. Our goal is to move one new product candidate for a significant indication into the clinic each year. We have achieved this goal since 2002. Our pioneering research focuses on intracellular signaling pathways and related targets that are critical to disease mechanisms. Rigel’s productivity has resulted in strategic collaborations with large pharmaceutical partners to develop and market our product candidates. We have product development programs in inflammatory/autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, thrombocytopenia, and asthma and allergy, as well as in cancer.

This press release contains “forward-looking” statements, including statements related to Rigel’s plans to pursue clinical development of product candidates and the timing thereof, the potential efficacy of product candidates and the sufficiency of financial resources. Any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Words such as “plans,” “intends,” “expects,” “anticipates” and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause Rigel’s results to differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements, including risks associated with the timing and success of clinical trials and the commercialization of product candidates, as well as other risks detailed from time to time in Rigel’s SEC reports, including its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2006. Rigel does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements.

Contact: Jim Welch

Phone: 650.624.1176

Email: invrel@rigel.com

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030226/RIGLLOGOAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.orgPRN Photo Desk photodesk@prnewswire.comRigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

CONTACT: Jim Welch of Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., +1-650-624-1176, orinvrel@rigel.com

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