UPDATE: ARIAD Reports Discontinuation of Phase 2 EPIC Trial of Iclusig

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA) today announced that it isdiscontinuing the Phase 3 EPIC (Evaluation of Ponatinib versus Imatinib inChronic Myeloid Leukemia) trial of Iclusig^® (ponatinib) in patients withnewly diagnosed chronic myeloid leukemia. ARIAD and the U.S. Food and DrugAdministration mutually agreed that the trial should be terminated becausearterial thrombotic events were observed in patients treated with Iclusig.This decision was made in the interest of patient safety based on a recentassessment of data in the clinical trial.“Our decision to stop the EPIC trial at this time is based on our currentevaluation of the safety data in the trial since it was placed on partialclinical hold last week,”stated Timothy P. Clackson, Ph.D., president ofresearch and development and chief scientific officer at ARIAD. "We believethat this is in the best interests of patient safety and the overalldevelopment of Iclusig.”Patients in the EPIC trial are being removed from treatment and will betransferred to the care of their physician. ARIAD announced in early Septemberthat fifty percent of patients, or approximately 264 patients, had beenenrolled in the EPIC trial by that time. Final enrollment is 307 patients.The EPIC trial was a randomized, two-arm, multicenter trial that sought tocompare the efficacy of ponatinib with that of imatinib in adult patients withnewly diagnosed CML in the chronic phase. The trial was being conducted atapproximately 150 investigational sites in more than 20 countries. Patients inthe trial had to be at least 18 years of age and diagnosed with CML within sixmonths prior to enrollment. Approximately 500 patients were to be randomized1:1 to the standard dose of ponatinib (45 mg given orally once daily) orimatinib (400 mg given orally once daily). Increasing the imatinib dose to 600mg or 800 mg per day was permitted. The primary endpoint of the trial wasmajor molecular response at 12 months of treatment.Iclusig is commercially available in the U.S. and EU for patients withresistant or intolerant CML and Philadelphia-chromosome positive acutelymphoblastic leukemia. ARIAD continues to work with health authorities tomake appropriate changes to the Iclusig product labeling to reflect therecently announced safety findings from the pivotal PACE trial that was thebasis of its marketing approvals.Investor and analyst briefing and webcastARIAD management will host a conference call and webcast to discuss theseactions today, October 18 at 8:30 a.m. ET. The live webcast can be accessed byvisiting the investor relations section of the Company's website athttp://investor.ariad.com. The call can be accessed by dialing 866-318-8620(U.S.) or +1 617-399-5139 (international) and providing the participant code13718093. A replay of the call will be available on the ARIAD websiteapproximately two hours after completion of the call and will be archived forthree weeks.