Curis Issued U.S. Patent Covering Drug Discovery Assays

June 21, 2006

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 13, 2006--Curis, Inc.

(NASDAQ: CRIS), a therapeutic drug development company, today

announced the receipt of U.S. patent number 7,060,450, which covers

screening assays for antagonists and agonists of the Hedgehog

signaling pathway. This patent includes cell-based assays that use a

Hedgehog responsive promoter element containing Gli binding sites as

the read-out. Gli expression levels are important in identifying

potential Hedgehog pathway targeted drug candidates since Gli levels

are higher when the Hedgehog pathway is turned on, or agonized, and

lower when Hedgehog signaling is inhibited, or antagonized. Further,

because these assays report on the final step of Hedgehog pathway

activation, they are effective in identifying compounds that modulate

Hedgehog signaling at virtually any point in the signaling pathway.

Curis has used its knowledge of the Hedgehog pathway to create drug

discovery assays that have produced drug targets for the treatment of

a variety of diseases such as cancer and stroke. As part of its

collaboration with Genentech, Curis has discovered Hedgehog

antagonists that are being studied for the systemic treatment of

solid tumors as well as a topical antagonist for the treatment of

basal cell carcinoma, currently in a Phase I trial. With Wyeth, Curis

is working on the development of orally available Hedgehog agonists

for the treatment of stroke and other neurological disorders and with

Procter & Gamble, the Company is working on the development of

topical Hedgehog agonists for male pattern baldness and female

pattern hair loss.

" Protecting and enhancing our patent estate has always been a

priority for Curis, " said R. Passeri, President and CEO of

Curis, Inc. " With our broad patent portfolio, we believe that we own

the seminal intellectual property covering the Hedgehog pathway and

its uses for the treatment of a variety of diseases and disorders.

With this new patent, we believe that we can further insure that we

have the proprietary technology to develop assays that will allow us

to develop novel small molecule treatments in oncology, dermatology,

neurology and other disease areas. "

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