Millennium Announces New CEO

-- Head of Novartis North American Oncology Business to drive
Millennium toward long-term growth and near-term profitability --

Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: MLNM - News) today
announced that Deborah Dunsire, M.D., an accomplished pharmaceutical
executive and head of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation's North
American Oncology Operations, has been named as the new president
and chief executive officer of Millennium. Dr. Dunsire will also be
elected to the Company's Board of Directors. She plans to assume her
duties by August 1, 2005. Dr. Dunsire will succeed Mr. Mark Levin,
co-founder and CEO since the Company's inception. Mr. Kenneth Weg, a
member of the Board of Directors since 2001, will become the new non-
executive chairman. Mr. Levin will remain an active member of the
Board.

"Deborah has an impressive track record in building and motivating
multi- functional organizations to deliver significant revenues and
sustainable growth, two key goals for Millennium," said Mr.
Weg. "Her depth of experience and proven leadership in the
pharmaceutical industry and repeated success in commercializing
products will enable Millennium to optimize the potential of its
novel therapies and capitalize on the Company's strengths in
innovative drug discovery and development."

Dr. Dunsire has nearly 20 years of experience in the commercial,
operational, clinical and scientific aspects of a world-leading
pharmaceutical business. She led the Novartis U.S. Oncology Business
in a competitive market, achieving more than 25 percent compounded
annual growth rate over the last eight years. While at Novartis, Dr.
Dunsire also played a critical role in the broad development and
successful launch of a number of products including Zometa, Femara
and Gleevec, and evaluated and implemented key business development
initiatives. She was also responsible for managing the merger and
significant growth of the combined Sandoz Pharmaceuticals and Ciba-
Geigy oncology businesses.

"Millennium is poised for continued growth and I'm excited to be
joining at such a pivotal point in the Company's development," said
Dr. Dunsire. "Widely recognized for scientific leadership,
entrepreneurial culture and visionary management, Millennium can
command a strong commercial presence and leverage its robust product
pipeline. I look forward to building on the Company's rich legacy
and track record in bringing breakthrough medicines to patients,
while fulfilling its goal of non-GAAP profitability in 2006 and long-
term growth."

Dr. Dunsire has served on the U.S. pharmaceutical executive
committee at Novartis, was a designated member of the corporate
executive group, and a member of the operating committee charged
with defining corporate strategy, managing operations and assessing
executive performance.

Earlier in her career, Dr. Dunsire was a clinical researcher
responsible for the implementation of global phase II and phase III
studies across multiple therapeutic areas such as immunology,
endocrinology, neurology, dermatology, oncology and transplantation.
She has also been a practicing physician.

"Deborah shares an unwavering commitment to making a difference in
patients' lives, the Company's mission since day one," said Mark
Levin. "She is dedicated to building a leading biopharmaceutical
company and has the commercial and business experience to make it
happen for our stockholders, employees, partners and patients."

Acknowledging the exceptional contributions of Mark Levin, Mr. Weg
stated, "Mark has been one of the great visionaries in the biotech
industry and his passion for the business, amazing energy and
ability to motivate people at Millennium has been no less than
remarkable. I would like to express the Board's sincerest
appreciation for Mark's dedication to the Company over the past 12
years, his commitment to patients to deliver breakthrough medicines,
and his promise to build value for shareholders."

Mr. Weg has had more than 30 years of experience in the
pharmaceutical industry including significant leadership roles at
Merck & Co., Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS). At BMS he
was elected to the Board of Directors in 1995 and became vice
chairman in 1999. He also served as president, Worldwide Medicines
Group; president, Pharmaceuticals Group; and president of
Pharmaceutical Operations. Currently, Ken is chairman of Clearview
Projects, a consulting firm which provides partnering and
transactional services to biopharmaceutical companies and academic
institutions.

Conference Call Information

In conjunction with this news release, Millennium will host a live
webcast of its conference call today, Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at
8:00 AM ET. This webcast can be accessed by visiting the Investors
section of the Company's website, http://www.millennium.com.
Following the webcast, an archived version of the call will be
available at the same address for 30 days.

About Millennium

Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading biopharmaceutical
company based in Cambridge, Mass., markets VELCADE® (bortezomib) for
Injection, a novel cancer product, co-promotes INTEGRILIN®
(eptifibatide) Injection, a market-leading cardiovascular product,
and has a robust clinical development pipeline of product
candidates. The Company's research, development and
commercialization activities are focused in three therapeutic areas:
oncology, cardiovascular, and inflammation. By applying its
knowledge of the human genome, its understanding of disease
mechanisms, and its industrialized drug discovery platform,
Millennium is seeking to develop breakthrough products.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements," including
statements about the Company's growth, discovery and development of
products and financial results. Various important risks may cause
the Company's actual results to differ materially from the results
indicated by these forward- looking statements, including: adverse
results in its drug discovery and clinical development programs;
failure to obtain patent protection for its discoveries; commercial
limitations imposed by patents owned or controlled by third parties;
the Company's dependence upon strategic alliance partners to develop
and commercialize products and services based on its work;
difficulties or delays in obtaining regulatory approvals to market
products and services resulting from its development efforts;
product withdrawals; competitive factors; difficulties or delays in
manufacturing the Company's products; government and third party
reimbursement rates; the commercial success of VELCADE and
INTEGRILIN; achieving revenue consistent with internal forecasts;
and the requirement for substantial funding to conduct research and
development and to expand commercialization activities. For a
further list and description of the risks and uncertainties the
Company faces, see the reports it has filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. The Company disclaims any intention or
obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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