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                                                                    EXHIBIT 99.1


MICROCIDE PHARMACEUTICALS ANNOUNCES THE FORMATION OF ICONIX
PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. AND A PRIVATE PLACEMENT OF $12.5 MILLION BY
ICONIX

Mountain View, CA, January 14, 1998 /PRNewswire/ -- Microcide Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. (Nasdaq: MCDE) announced today the formation of a chemical genetics
company, Iconix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which will seek to extend Microcide's
microbial genomics research into a technology platform with broad applicability
to human diseases. Through a private placement, Iconix has arranged a $12.5
million equity investment from the venture investors Abingworth Management,
Institutional Venture Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers at a
post-money valuation of approximately $25 million. Including the effects of an
options pool, Microcide will hold approximately 35% of the pro forma fully
diluted outstanding equity of Iconix. In connection with this transaction,
Microcide and Iconix have entered into a series of agreements covering the
transfer of certain technologies from Microcide to Iconix, joint technology
development in core drug discovery areas, and provision of support services by
Microcide to Iconix for the next three years. Finally, Microcide and Iconix have
entered into a research agreement whereby Iconix will apply its chemical
genomics technology to an antiviral drug discovery and development program in
collaboration with Microcide.

Microcide was founded in December 1992 to discover, develop and commercialize
novel antibiotics for the treatment of serious bacterial infections. For over
three years, Microcide has been applying its proprietary Targeted Genomics
technology whereby it creates and uses bacterial and fungal genetic mutants to
quickly and directly identify genes required either for in vitro viability or
for pathogenicity in man. Creating genetic potentiation assays rather than
biochemical assays, Microcide utilizes many targets simultaneously in high
throughput screening to create multi-dimensional biological profiles of each
compound tested. The advantages of such an approach are its focus only on the
pharmaceutically relevant portion of an organism's genome, and its utilization
of many targets simultaneously, thereby generating a wealth of biological
information not only on the compounds tested, but also on the interrelated
functioning of the genes themselves.

During 1997, Microcide explored ways to extend this methodology to mammalian
systems and has developed an approach using Surrogate Genetics. Iconix plans to
engineer human genes in surrogate hosts to create high throughput assays
(Activity Reporter Cells) to screen for small molecule agonists or antagonists.
By rapidly identifying chemical modulators of human genes in parallel for
targets of known and unknown function, Surrogate Genetics is expected to allow
Iconix to generate powerful databases of metabolic pathways, gene functions and
compound sensitivities -- and, specific inhibitors identified in the assays are
expected to represent useful leads for drug development.

After a thorough analysis of various alternatives, Microcide determined that the
Surrogate Genetics technology would best be pursued through Iconix for a number
of reasons. First, Microcide's core mission is the discovery and development of
antimicrobials, and the Company is determined to maintain focus on that mission.
Second, establishment of Iconix should enhance the ability to recruit and incent
key personnel as well as to create focus on its core mission of extending
Surrogate

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Genetics to as many therapeutic categories as possible. Finally, the
establishment of Iconix and the equity financing of $12.5 million provides
Iconix with the financial resources to aggressively advance its research
approach, allows Iconix to independently seek financing in the future, and
retains for Microcide a significant equity stake in the future performance of
Iconix.

Microcide and Iconix plan to have a close working relationship over the next
several years through a Core Technology Development and License Agreement, a
Support Services Agreement and an Antiviral and Surrogate Genetics Research
Collaboration. Through the Technology Agreement, Microcide and Iconix will work
together over the next three years to jointly develop and utilize new technology
in the areas of molecular diversity, high throughput screening, biological and
chemical informatics, and genome sciences, leveraging these capabilities across
both companies. Pursuant to the Support Services Agreement, Microcide will
provide Iconix with a number of services including accounting and finance,
facilities, and various scientific support services.

In addition, Microcide becomes Iconix's first corporate partner through a
three-year Antiviral Research Collaboration. During this term, extendible at
Microcide's option for two additional one-year periods, Iconix will apply
Surrogate Genetics to a number of viral disease targets in the search for novel
inhibitors. Microcide will provide Iconix with research support of $6.1 million
over the three years of the collaboration. Microcide will have worldwide
development, manufacturing and marketing rights to antiviral products which
emerge from the collaboration and Iconix will receive milestone payments of $11
million for the first product and $10.5 million for subsequent products, in
addition to royalties on worldwide sales.

Dr. Keith Bostian, formerly Chief Operating Officer of Microcide, will become
President and Chief Executive Officer of Iconix, and Dr. Hugh Rienhoff of
Abingworth Management will serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Dr.
Bostian will continue to serve as an active member of the Microcide Board of
Directors and has become a consultant to Microcide for a two-year period. During
the first year of the consulting arrangement, Dr. Bostian will devote a
significant amount of his time providing scientific and strategic consulting to
Microcide, working closely with Microcide's recently appointed Senior Vice
President of Research and Development, Dr. George H. Miller, to give priority
attention to program activities with Microcide's corporate partners (Daiichi,
Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer).

Microcide is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development
and commer cialization of novel antimicrobials for the treatment of serious
bacterial and fungal infections. The Company's research programs address the
growing problem of bacterial drug resistance through two principal themes: (i)
Targeted Antibiotics, which focuses on developing novel antibiotics and
antibiotic potentiators to overcome bacterial resistance mechanisms, and (ii)
Targeted Genomics, which utilizes bacterial genetics to discover new classes of
antibiotics and other novel treatments for bacterial diseases. Microcide has
also extended its functional genomics technology platform into an antifungal
program designed to discover broad spectrum fungicidal agents. Through its
collabo ration with Iconix, Microcide plans to further extend its genomics
technology into the search for novel antiviral therapeutics.



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Iconix is a chemical genetics drug company founded to advance the application of
genomics to the discovery and development of drugs for the improved treatment of
human diseases through the use of chemistry to define gene function and disease
relevance, and the use of surrogate genetics to rapidly identify chemical
modulators and drug leads for genes of known and unknown function. The Company's
research programs integrate and use information from its chemical genetics
technology platform with parallel informatics systems, linking gene targets,
drug reactivities and disease pathologies over a wide range of human diseases.
In its first major collaborative partnership with Microcide, Iconix has begun
drug screening for viral disease targets for a number of clinically relevant
human viral pathogens, including Hepatitis B and C, Herpesviruses, and
Influenza. Additional programs are being established to focus on specific human
gene families, biochemical pathways, novel genes and therapeutic areas.

The statements in this press release that are related to the future research of
Iconix, the anticipated collaboration and joint research efforts of Microcide
and Iconix, the payment of research support and milestone payments, the
potential development of commercial products, and the future funding of Iconix
are forward-looking statements based upon current expectations. Such
forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including without
limitation, the risk that the research of Iconix will not progress as
anticipated, that the collaboration and joint research efforts of Microcide and
Iconix will be terminated or otherwise prove to be unsuccessful, that Iconix
will not obtain sufficient future funding, and that Microcide's ownership in
Iconix may be diluted. For a discussion of other risks and uncertainties
affecting Microcide's business, see the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for
the year ended December 31, 1996. Actual results and timing of certain events
could differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements
as a result of these or other factors.

Investor Contact:  Matthew J. Hogan, Chief Financial Officer, 650-428-3557



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