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                                   Scios Inc.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                (Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)

- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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                               [SCIOS LETTERHEAD]


CONTACT:
Wendy Carhart
Scios Inc.
408/616-8325
or
Stanley J. Kay
MacKenzie Partners, Inc.
212/929-5940

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

              MAJOR INSTITUTIONAL SHAREHOLDER DECLARES SUPPORT FOR
                   SCIOS BOARD AND MANAGEMENT IN PROXY CONTEST

SUNNYVALE,  CA, January 6, 2000 - Scios Inc. (NASDAQ: SCIO) announced today that
the State of Wisconsin  Investment Board (SWIB),  owner of 1.6 million shares of
Scios common stock,  has declared its continued  support for the existing  Scios
Board of Directors and their intention to reject the slate proposed by Randal J.
Kirk at the Company's Year 2000 Annual Meeting scheduled for February 28, 2000.

In a letter to the Scios Board of  Directors,  John  Nelson,  SWIB's  Investment
Director,  stated "SWIB  continues  to support  Scios  Board's and  management's
efforts to realize the potential of the Company's  strong product  pipeline.  We
urge the Board to  continue  their  focus on the  current  strategy  to maximize
long-term shareholder value. We believe the current Board and management are the
right team to accomplish this."
- -----

Richard B. Brewer, Scios' President and Chief Executive Officer,  stated "We are
gratified  to receive the strong  endorsement  of one of the  Company's  largest
long-term institutional shareholders."

Mr. Brewer continued: "In March of 1999 we announced a focused new business plan
and  initiated  steps to  dramatically  cut  costs.  Much has been  accomplished
despite  the  setback  for  Scios  and all  its  shareholders,  including  SWIB,
resulting from the FDA's decision on Natrecor (R)

                                   -- more --



                                                                 January 6, 2000
                                                                          Page 2

(nesiritide).  We  believe  Scios  is now  firmly  back on  track  with the new
Natrecor clinical trial, guided by a distinguished Steering Committee of leading
physicians.  We believe the steps we have taken in 1999 will  contribute  to our
goal of maximizing Scios' long-term value for the benefit of all shareholders."

A copy of the letter sent from SWIB to the Scios Board of Directors is attached.

SCIOS INC.

Scios is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery,  development, and
commercialization of novel human therapeutics.  Scios has commercial or research
and   development   relationships   with   Chiron   Corporation,    The   DuPont
Pharmaceuticals   Company,   Eli  Lilly  and   Company,   GenVec   Inc.,   Kaken
Pharmaceutical  Co., Ltd., and Novo Nordisk A/S of Denmark.  Scios'  Psychiatric
Sales and Marketing Division  successfully  markets seven psychiatric  products,
including co-promotion  arrangements with Janssen  Pharmaceutica's  Risperdal(R)
(risperidone)  and SmithKline  Beecham's  Paxil(R)  (paroxetine  hydrochloride).
Additional  information  on  Scios  is  available  at its web  site  located  at
www.sciosinc.com  and in the Company's  various  filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.  For information about the Year 2000 Annual Meeting,  visit
www.sciosinc.com/election_information.

The  statements  in this  press  release  that  are  not  historical  facts  are
forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, and include the
risk of timely and  successful  completion  of the  current  clinical  trial for
Natrecor  and  achieving  approval  of  Natrecor,   the  risks  associated  with
development and  commercialization of the Company's other products and the risks
associated with the other strategies comprising the Company's new business plan,
as well as other risks  detailed from time to time in the reports filed by Scios
with the SEC,  including the  Company's  annual report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 1998 and subsequent reports on Form 10-Q.

                                   -- more --



                                                                 January 6, 2000
                                                                          Page 3

                   CERTAIN INFORMATION CONCERNING PARTICIPANTS

Scios Inc. has scheduled  its annual  meeting of  stockholders  for February 28,
2000. The following  information  is provided  concerning  the  participants  on
behalf of Scios Inc.  in the  solicitation  of  proxies  for this  meeting.

The  following  individuals,  all of whom are  directors  of Scios Inc.,  may be
deemed  participants  in the  solicitation of proxies on behalf of the Company's
Board of Directors: Donald B. Rice, Ph.D. (Chairman of the Board of the Company;
President and Chief Executive  Officer of Urogenesys,  Inc.);  Richard B. Brewer
(Chief  Executive  Officer and  President of the  Company);  Samuel H.  Armacost
(Chairman,  SRI  International);  Myron Du Bain  (Chairman  and Chief  Executive
Officer  (Retired),  Fireman's  Fund  Corporation);  Charles  A.  Sanders,  M.D.
(Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (Retired), Glaxo Inc.); Solomon H. Snyder,
M.D. (Director,  Department of Neuroscience, and Distinguished Service Professor
of Neuroscience,  Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences and Psychiatry,  The Johns
Hopkins  University);  Burton E. Sobel,  M.D. (E.L.  Amidon Professor and Chair,
Department  of Medicine,  The  University of Vermont  College of Medicine);  and
Eugene  L. Step  (Executive  Vice  President,  President  of the  Pharmaceutical
Division  (Retired),  Eli Lilly and Company).  The  following  executives of the
Company may also be deemed  participants:  Thomas L. Feldman (Vice  President of
Sales &  Marketing);  Elliott B.  Grossbard,  M.D.  (Senior  Vice  President  of
Development);  David W. Gryska (Vice  President  of Finance and Chief  Financial
Officer);  John A. Lewicki,  Ph.D. (Vice President of Research);  John H. Newman
(Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary); George F. Schreiner, M.D.,
Ph.D. (Vice President,  Cardiorenal  Research) and Wendy Carhart (Senior Manager
of Investor Relations).

In the aggregate,  these  individuals  beneficially  own 1,654,411 shares of the
Company's  Common Stock,  including  1,290,476  shares  subject to stock options
exercisable  within 60 days of  December  31,  1999.  None of these  individuals
beneficially  owns more than 1% of the Company's  Common  Stock.  In addition to
customary  cash  compensation  payable  to  non-employee  directors,  under  the
Company's Equity Incentive Plan each non-employee director receives an automatic
grant of a stock option to acquire  10,000 shares of the Company's  Common Stock
at each annual  meeting where the director is elected to the Company's  Board of
Directors.  Mr.  Brewer's  employment  agreement with the Company  provides for,
among other things, severance payments to Mr. Brewer in the event of termination
of his employment "without cause" or "for good reason."



                                   -- end --



                [STATE OF WISCONSIN INVESTMENT BOARD LETTERHEAD]

29 December 1999

Board of Directors
Scios, Inc.
820 West Maude Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA  94086

Re:  Intention  to vote for  existing  Board of  Directors  and  reject The Kirk
Stockholders' alternative slate of Directors.

Dear Board of Directors' Members:

The State of Wisconsin  Investment Board (SWIB) intends to vote for the existing
Board of Directors  slate for the 2000 Scios annual meeting.  In addition,  SWIB
intends  to reject The Kirk  Stockholders'  alternative  slate of Board  members
being proposed. SWIB owns 1,590,500 shares or 4.2% of Scios outstanding shares.

SWIB continues to support Scios Board's and management's  efforts to realize the
potential  of the  company's  strong  product  pipeline.  We urge  the  Board to
continue their focus on the current strategy to maximize  long-term  shareholder
value.  We  believe  the  current  Board and management are the right  team to
                                                                -----
accomplish this.

Sincerely,

/s/

John F. Nelson
Investment Director