SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Exelixis, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXEL) announced that it intends to hold its 2004 annual meeting of stockholders on April 8, 2004 at 8:00 a.m. PDT at the company's offices located at 170 Harbor Way, South San Francisco, California 94080.

The deadline for submission of stockholder proposals that are not intended to be included in the company's proxy materials is Friday, February 6, 2004.

Exelixis, Inc. is a leading genomics-based drug discovery company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel therapeutics. The company is leveraging its fully integrated gene-to-drug platform to fuel the growth of its proprietary drug pipeline. Exelixis' development pipeline includes: XL119 which is anticipated to enter a Phase 3 clinical trial as a potential treatment for bile duct tumors; XL784, an anticancer compound that has completed a Phase 1 clinical trial; XL647, XL999 and XL844, anticancer compounds that are potential IND candidates; and multiple compounds in preclinical development. Exelixis has established broad corporate alliances with major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including GlaxoSmithKline and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. The company has also established agricultural research collaborations with Bayer CropScience, Dow AgroSciences and Renessen LLC. Other partners include Merck & Co., Inc., Schering-Plough Research Institute, Inc., Cytokinetics, Inc., Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Scios Inc. For more information, please visit the company's web site at www.exelixis.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements related to plans to commence a phase 3 clinical trial of XL119. Words such as "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "intend," "will" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon Exelixis' current expectations. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Exelixis' actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, the risk factors discussed under "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2003 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based.

Exelixis and the Exelixis logo are registered U.S. trademarks. Spectrum selective kinase inhibitor is a trademark of Exelixis, Inc.

SOURCE  Exelixis, Inc.
    -0-                             01/15/2004
    /CONTACT:  Jane M. Green, Ph.D., VP, Corporate Communications, of
Exelixis, Inc., +1-650-837-7579 or jmgreen@exelixis.com/
    /Web site:  http://www.exelixis.com /
    (EXEL)

CO:  Exelixis, Inc.
ST:  California
IN:  HEA MTC
SU:

JO 
-- SFTH065 --
2518 01/15/2004 16:00 EST http://www.prnewswire.com