Press Release

Palo Alto, CA, November 26, 2001—Incyte Genomics, Inc. (Nasdaq: INCY), the leading genomics information company, today named Paul A. Friedman, M.D.—formerly President of DuPont Pharmaceuticals Research Laboratories—to be Incyte's Chief Executive Officer. In addition, Incyte named Robert Stein, M.D., Ph.D.—formerly DuPont Pharmaceuticals Executive Vice President of Research and Preclinical Development—as President and Chief Scientific Officer to provide the scientific leadership for both the database and therapeutic discovery businesses.

Incyte's current Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, Roy A. Whitfield, has been elected chairman of Incyte's Board of Directors, succeeding cofounder Randy Scott, Ph.D. Dr. Friedman, Dr. Stein and Julian Baker, Managing Partner of Baker/Tisch Investments, have also been elected to the Board.

"Dr. Friedman and Dr. Stein are proven leaders who together created an impressive therapeutic pipeline at DuPont while building substantial value for DuPont's shareholders," said Roy A. Whitfield, Chief Executive Officer for Incyte. "Incyte's intellectual property portfolio—consisting of the industry's largest compilation of antibody, protein and gene patents—provides them significant pharmaceutical opportunities to apply their leadership skills to expand the database and intellectual property licensing business and develop new medical therapeutics."

Dr. Friedman held the position of President, DuPont Pharmaceuticals (formerly DuPont Merck Pharmaceuticals) Research Laboratories, from 1994 until the acquisition of DuPont Pharmaceuticals by Bristol Myers Squibb for $7.8 billion in September, 2001. During his tenure, the number of high-quality drug candidate compounds nominated for clinical development tripled, reaching 10 in the year 2000. Notable among these is Sustiva, now a leading medicine for the treatment of HIV infection. Prior to joining DuPont Merck, Dr. Friedman was Senior Vice President, Research, Merck and Co., and before that was Associate Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Friedman is a Diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine and is a Member of the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, the American Society of Clinical Investigation, and the American Society of Biological Chemists.

Dr. Stein joined Dr. Friedman at DuPont Merck Pharmaceuticals as Executive Vice President, Research and Preclinical Development in 1996. Dr. Stein and Dr. Friedman had previously worked together at Merck & Co. from 1982 until 1990, at which time Dr. Stein was Senior Director and Head Department of Pharmacology. Prior to joining DuPont Merck in 1996, Dr. Stein was Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Stein holds a B.S. in Biology and Chemistry from Indiana University and a M.D. and Ph.D. in Physiology and Pharmacology from Duke University.

"Genomic information will drive a new era of drug discovery and development," said Paul A. Friedman, M.D. "Incyte has tremendous resources—the leading position in the genomic information business with almost all pharmaceutical companies subscribing to its databases, an intellectual property portfolio that is unmatched in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, great scientific teams well-experienced in the commercial application of genomic information and a strong balance sheet—and as such is uniquely positioned to lead this new paradigm of therapeutic discovery efforts."

Julian Baker is currently a managing partner of Baker/Tisch Investments. Mr. Baker co-founded a biotechnology investing partnership in 1994 with Felix Baker, Ph.D., his brother, and the Tisch Family. Over the past several years, the Bakers have also partnered with major university and other endowments to develop Baker/Tisch Investments, which has grown into one of the largest private investment funds focused on publicly-traded life sciences companies. Prior to founding Baker/Tisch Investments, Mr. Baker was employed for five years by the private equity investment arms of CS First Boston. Mr. Baker is a graduate of Harvard University.

Because of the timing of these announcements, Incyte Genomics will not present at the Robertson Stephens Medical Conference in New York as scheduled for tomorrow, November, 27th. The company intends to present its strategies, which will reflect the contributions from its new executives, in the first quarter of 2002.

Incyte Genomics, Inc. has developed the leading integrated platform of genomic technologies designed to aid in the understanding of the molecular basis of disease. Incyte develops and markets genomic databases and partnership programs, related reagents and services. These products, programs and services assist pharmaceutical and biotechnology researchers with all phases of drug discovery and development including gene discovery, understanding disease pathways, identifying new disease targets and the discovery and correlation of gene sequence variation to disease. In addition, Incyte has the largest portfolio of issued United States patents covering human full-length genes and the proteins they encode and is leveraging its intellectual property position to be a leader in therapeutic discoveries. For more information, visit Incyte's web site at http://www.incyte.com.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including without limitation, statements as to the significant opportunities available to Incyte's new Chief Executive Officer and President to expand Incyte's businesses and to develop new medical therapeutic products, Incyte's intention to present its new strategies, and the timing of such announcements, the role that genomic information will play in drug discovery and development, the unique positioning of Incyte to be a leader in therapeutic discovery efforts, the ability of Incyte's products and services to enhance the research efforts of its customers and Incyte's ability to leverage its intellectual property position to become a leader in therapeutic discoveries, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including Incyte's ability to attract and retain customers, the impact of competition and technological advances and Incyte's ability to compete against competitors that may have greater financial or other resources, changes in consumer demand for Incyte's products and services, changes to Incyte's business plan, Incyte's ability to obtain patent protection for its discoveries and to continue to be effective in expanding its patent coverage and other risks detailed from time to time in Incyte's SEC reports, including its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2001. Incyte disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.