Rigel Announces Presentation at the Lehman Brothers Global Healthcare Conference

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., March 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: RIGL) today announced that James M. Gower, the company's chairman and chief executive officer, will provide a company overview at the Lehman Brothers Tenth Annual Global Healthcare Conference in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday, March 21st at 8:00 am ET.

To access the live audio webcast or the subsequent archived recording, log on to www.rigel.com. Please connect to Rigel's website several minutes prior to the start of the live webcast to ensure adequate time for any software download that may be necessary.

About Rigel (http://www.rigel.com)

Rigel is a clinical-stage drug development company that discovers and develops novel, small-molecule drugs for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, cancer and viral diseases. Our goal is to file one new investigational new drug (IND) application in a significant indication each year. We have achieved this goal since 2002. Our pioneering research focuses on intracellular signaling pathways and related targets that are critical to disease mechanisms. Rigel's productivity has resulted in strategic collaborations with large pharmaceutical partners to develop and market our product candidates. We have product development programs in inflammatory/autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, thrombocytopenia, and asthma and allergy, as well as in cancer.

This press release contains "forward-looking" statements, including statements related to Rigel's plans with respect to clinical development of product candidates, the market opportunity for its product candidates, and expansion of its product portfolio. Any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Words such as "plans," "intends," "promising," "expects," "anticipates" and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause Rigel's results to differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements, including risks associated with the timing and success of clinical trials and the commercialization of product candidates, as well as other risks detailed from time to time in Rigel's SEC reports, including its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006. Rigel does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements.

Contact: Ryan Maynard

Phone: 650.624.1284

Email: invrel@rigel.com

SOURCE Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Released March 14, 2007