Investor Contacts:
Elizabeth Foster or Claudia Jones of Neurocrine Biosciences
(858) 617-7600

Media Contact:
Liz Frank of Cohn & Wolfe
(212) 798-9734


             NEUROCRINE ANNOUNCES SUBMISSION OF NEW DRUG APPLICATION
                              FOR INDIPLON TABLETS

           PROMISING NEW TREATMENT OPTION SHOWN TO HELP PATIENTS GET A
                               FULL NIGHT'S SLEEP

San Diego, CA, May 26, 2005 - Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX)
announced that the company has completed submission of a New Drug Application
(NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for indiplon tablets for
the treatment of insomnia in both adult and elderly patients. The NDA for
indiplon capsules was submitted to the FDA in April of 2005. These filings are
based on clinical data supporting that both capsules and tablets show
significant improvement in all sleep onset, sleep maintenance and sleep quality
parameters.

"The indiplon NDA submissions are supported by data from one of the most
comprehensive clinical trial programs conducted in insomnia which showcased the
consistency with which indiplon helps patients address sleep onset and sleep
maintenance problems while improving overall sleep quality," said Gary A. Lyons,
President and CEO of Neurocrine Biosciences. "We believe that the flexibility of
indiplon in treating the individual sleep needs of patients, coupled with the
demonstrated long-term safety, make it an important advancement in the treatment
of insomnia."

The indiplon NDA filings contain data from 72 clinical trials and include a
comprehensive safety and efficacy evaluation in more than 7,500 subjects.
Clinical trial results have shown that indiplon capsules and tablets help
patients consistently fall asleep faster, increase the amount of time they sleep
during the night, decrease number of nighttime awakenings and improve overall
sleep quality over the course of short or long-term treatment without evidence
of tolerance when administered nightly for up to three months or withdrawal upon
discontinuation of nightly dosing - complications often seen with extended use
of older-generation sleep medications.

ABOUT INDIPLON

Indiplon is a unique, non-narcotic, non-benzodiazapine agent that acts on a
specific site of the GABA-A receptor. Indiplon has been shown to bind
selectively to the specific subtype of GABA-A receptors within the brain
believed to be responsible for promoting sleep. Indiplon was developed to
address different types of sleep problems. Indiplon was licensed from DOV
Pharmaceutical in 1998. Upon approval, indiplon will be copromoted in the US
with Pfizer.

Insomnia is a prevalent condition in the United States. According to the
National Sleep Foundation's (NSF) Sleep in America Poll 2005 approximately half
of America's adults report

                                     -MORE-

that they experienced at least one symptom of insomnia a few nights a week or
more in the past year. Sleep loss has been found to impair the ability to
perform tasks involving memory, learning, and logical reasoning, yet few people
understand the importance of sufficient sleep.

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. is a product-based biopharmaceutical company
focused on neurological and endocrine diseases and disorders. Our product
candidates address some of the largest pharmaceutical markets in the world
including insomnia, anxiety, depression, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, irritable
bowel syndrome, eating disorders, pain, and autoimmunity. Neurocrine
Biosciences, Inc. news releases are available through the Company's website via
the Internet at http://www.neurocrine.com

In addition to historical facts, this press release may contain forward-looking
statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Among the factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the
forward-looking statements are risks and uncertainties associated with
Neurocrine's business and finances in general including, but not limited to,
risk and uncertainties associated with the Company's indiplon program and
planned regulatory activities. Specifically, the risks and uncertainties the
Company faces with respect to its indiplon program include, but are not limited
to; risk that the reformatted indiplon capsule and tablet NDAs will not be
acceptable to the FDA; the risk that regulatory authorities may reject our
regulatory submissions or find them incomplete or insufficient; risk that
additional clinical studies may be required to support submissions for
regulatory approval; risk that the indiplon labeling granted by regulatory
authorities may limit the commercial success of indiplon; risk relating to the
Company's dependence on contract manufacturers for clinical drug supply and
compliance with regulatory requirements for marketing approval; risks associated
with the Company's dependence on corporate collaborators for commercial
manufacturing and marketing and sales activities; uncertainties relating to
patent protection and intellectual property rights of third parties; risks and
uncertainties relating to competitive products and technological changes that
may limit demand for the Company's products; risk that the Company will be
unable to raise additional funding required to complete development of all of
its product candidates; and the other risks described in the Company's report on
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004 and report on Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended March 31, 2005. Neurocrine undertakes no obligation to update the
statements contained in this press release after the date hereof.

                                     # # #
















                                     # # #