SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                                    FORM 8-K

                CURRENT REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF
                       THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

                                 Date of Report
              (Date of earliest event reported): September 18, 2002

                           ARIAD PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
                           ---------------------------
             (Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)


Delaware                          0-21696                   22-3106987
- --------                          -------                   ----------
(State or Other Jurisdiction (Commission File Number)     (I.R.S. Employer
of Incorporation)                                           Identification No.)


                              26 LANDSDOWNE STREET
                         CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02139
              (Address of principal executive offices and zip code)


               Registrant's telephone number, including area code:
                                 (617) 494-0400



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ITEM 5.    OTHER EVENTS

         On September 18, 2002, the Registrant publicly disseminated a press
release announcing the discovery of a new product candidate designed to treat
both primary bone cancers and cancers that have spread to bone from distant
sites (metastases).

         In a separate press release, also on September 18, 2002, the Registrant
announced the discovery of a novel anti-cancer product candidate designed to
treat the progression and spread of solid tumors, such as colon cancer.

         The information contained in the press releases dated September 18,
2002 is incorporated herein by reference and attached as Exhibit 99.1 and 99.2
hereto.

ITEM 7.    FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, PRO FORMA FINANCIAL INFORMATION AND EXHIBITS.


           (c)    Exhibits.

                  99.1     The Registrant's Press Release dated September 18,
                           2002, regarding the discovery of a novel drug for
                           treating cancer in bone.

                  99.2     The Registrant's Press Release dated September 18,
                           2002, regarding the discovery of a new genomics-based
                           drug to treat the spread of cancer.




                                   SIGNATURES

         Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.


                                     ARIAD PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.



                                     By:
                                           -------------------------------------
                                           Edward M. Fitzgerald
                                           Senior Vice President and
                                             Chief Financial Officer


Date:    September 18, 2002



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                                  EXHIBIT INDEX
                                  -------------

Exhibit
Number    Description                                     Sequential Page Number
- -------   -----------                                     ----------------------

99.1      The Registrant's Press Release dated September 18, 2002.       [4]
          "ARIAD Discovers Novel Drug for Treating Cancer in Bone"

99.2      The Registrant's Press Release dated September 18, 2002.
          "ARIAD Discovers New Genomics-Based Drug to Treat the Spread
          of Cancer"                                                     [5]



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                                                                    EXHIBIT 99.1

ARIAD Discovers Novel Drug for Treating Cancer in Bone; From Product
Concept to Clinical Candidate in Six Months

    CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Sept. 18, 2002--ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(Nasdaq: ARIA) today announced, at the Bear Stearns Healthcare
Conference, the discovery of a new product candidate designed to treat
both primary bone cancers and cancers that have spread to bone from
distant sites (metastases). The newly discovered product candidate,
AP23675, combines in a single drug potent inhibition of: (1) nutrient
uptake in tumors leading to cancer cell starvation, (2) tumor cell
growth, and (3) bone breakdown leading to decreased tumor burden.
    This combination of therapeutic activities on primary and
metastatic cancer cells has not been achieved with other anti-cancer
therapies and is expected to be particularly beneficial to patients
with these aggressive malignancies.
    Primary bone cancers, such as osteogenic sarcoma, are rare but
extremely difficult to treat. Pre-operative chemotherapy followed by
limb-sparing surgery, if possible, is the standard regimen.
Unfortunately, many patients require limb amputation and/or radiation
therapy, and five-year survival is poor if the cancer has spread.
Clearly, there is a need for new bone-targeted drugs for bone cancer.
    Advanced-stage malignancies, such as cancers of the breast,
prostate and lungs, frequently spread to bone. An estimated 750,000
patients worldwide die each year with bone metastases. Once cancer
cells migrate to bone, they stimulate the breakdown of bone which, in
turn, causes the release of growth factors that stimulate further
cancer cell proliferation. Inhibiting this process blocks continued
cancer cell growth.
    "We have selected AP23675 as a clinical candidate for the
treatment of primary bone cancer and bone metastases and plan to
initiate pre-IND studies," said Harvey J. Berger, M.D., chairman and
chief executive officer of ARIAD. "This product went from concept to
clinical candidate in six months using our focused drug-discovery
platform and is expected to compliment our other therapy for bone
metastases (AP23451), further expanding our comprehensive approach to
cancer therapeutics."
    ARIAD is engaged in the discovery and development of breakthrough
medicines that regulate cell signaling with small molecules. The
Company is developing a comprehensive approach to the treatment of
cancer and blood diseases and has seven product candidates in
development. ARIAD also has an exclusive license to pioneering
technology and patents related to the discovery, development and use
of drugs that regulate NF-(kappa)B cell-signaling activity, which has
been implicated in many major diseases.
    Additional information about ARIAD can be found on the web at
http://www.ariad.com.

    Some of the matters discussed herein are "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are identified by the use of words
such as "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend,"
"plan," "believe," and other words and terms of similar meaning in
connection with any discussion of future operating or financial
performance. Such statements are based on management's current
expectations and are subject to certain factors, risks and
uncertainties that may cause actual results, outcome of events, timing
and performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied
by such forward-looking statements. These risks include, but are not
limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding the Company's ability to
conduct preclinical and clinical studies of its product candidates and
the results of such studies, regulatory oversight, intellectual
property claims, the timing, scope, cost and outcome of legal
proceedings, future capital needs, key employees, dependence on the
Company's collaborators and manufacturers, markets, economic
conditions, products, services, prices, reimbursement rates,
competition and other risks detailed in the Company's public filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including ARIAD's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2001. The
information contained in this document is believed to be current as of
the date of original issue. The Company does not intend to update any
of the forward-looking statements after the date of this document to
conform these statements to actual results or to changes in the
Company's expectations, except as required by law.

    CONTACT: ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
             Tom Pearson, 610/407-9260
             or
             Kathy Lawton, 617/621-2345




                                       4

                                                                    EXHIBIT 99.2

ARIAD Discovers New Genomics-based Drug to Treat the Spread of Cancer

    CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Sept. 18, 2002--ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(Nasdaq: ARIA) today announced, at the Bear Stearns Healthcare
Conference, the discovery of a novel anti-cancer product candidate,
AP23464, designed to treat the progression and spread of solid tumors,
such as colon cancer.
    Of the approximately 2.5 million new cases of invasive cancer that
are expected to be diagnosed this year in the U.S. and Europe, cancer
will already have spread by the time of initial diagnosis in about
one-third of patients. Another third will have tumor burden too small
to be detected. Once cancer spreads from its primary site, patient
morbidity and mortality are extremely high. Over one million patients
die yearly in the U.S. and Europe from cancer - the vast majority of
whom have cancer that has migrated from the primary tumor to distant
sites.
    ARIAD has pioneered the discovery and development of
small-molecule drugs to inhibit cancer-related proteins, particularly
the Src protein. Last month, Professor Margaret Frame and her
colleagues at Cancer Research UK (based at Glasgow's Beatson
Institute) elucidated the critical role that enhanced expression of
the Src protein plays in the spread of colon cancer - a finding that
has attracted widespread attention. Based on her team's work, Src is
now known to be involved in loosening the structure of tissue
surrounding a tumor, opening the way for cancer cells to spread.
AP23464 is a highly specific and potent inhibitor of the Src protein
and has been shown to effectively block many difficult-to-treat solid
tumors. Current studies are aimed at confirming its effectiveness in
also preventing the progression and spread of these cancers.
    "We plan to select a clinical candidate to treat the progression
and spread of cancer in the near-term," said Harvey J. Berger, M.D.,
chairman and chief executive officer of ARIAD. "We now have seven
product candidates in development, all but one to treat advanced forms
of cancer and blood disease."
    The paper describing Professor Frame's research, "Src-induced
de-regulation of E-cadherin in colon cancer cells requires integrin
signalling," appeared in the August 2002 issue of Nature Cell Biology
and can be found at the journal's website (http://cellbio.nature.com).

    ARIAD is engaged in the discovery and development of breakthrough
medicines that regulate cell signaling with small molecules. The
Company is developing a comprehensive approach to the treatment of
cancer and blood diseases and has seven product candidates in
development. ARIAD also has an exclusive license to pioneering
technology and patents related to the discovery, development and use
of drugs that regulate NF-(kappa)B cell-signaling activity, which has
been implicated in many major diseases.
    Additional information about ARIAD can be found on the web at
http://www.ariad.com.

    Some of the matters discussed herein are "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are identified by the use of words
such as "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend,"
"plan," "believe," and other words and terms of similar meaning in
connection with any discussion of future operating or financial
performance. Such statements are based on management's current
expectations and are subject to certain factors, risks and
uncertainties that may cause actual results, outcome of events, timing
and performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied
by such forward-looking statements. These risks include, but are not
limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding the Company's ability to
conduct preclinical and clinical studies of its product candidates and
the results of such studies, regulatory oversight, intellectual
property claims, the timing, scope, cost and outcome of legal
proceedings, future capital needs, key employees, dependence on the
Company's collaborators and manufacturers, markets, economic
conditions, products, services, prices, reimbursement rates,
competition and other risks detailed in the Company's public filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including ARIAD's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2001. The
information contained in this document is believed to be current as of
the date of original issue. The Company does not intend to update any
of the forward-looking statements after the date of this document to
conform these statements to actual results or to changes in the
Company's expectations, except as required by law.

    CONTACT: ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
             Tom Pearson, 610/407-9260
             or
             Kathy Lawton, 617/621-2345


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