EXHIBIT 99.1

     ARIAD Grants Second Commercial License to Its Patented ARGENT(TM)
          Cell-Signaling Regulation Technology for Development of
                           New Cancer Therapies

       Initial Product in Partnership to Prevent and Treat Anemia in
                                  Cancer

    CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 12, 2007--ARIAD
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA) today announced a non-exclusive,
royalty-bearing license agreement to its ARGENT(TM) cell-signaling
regulation technology with CellNexus, LLC to develop and commercialize
new cancer therapies. ARIAD will have an equity stake in CellNexus and
will receive additional payments based on certain development,
regulatory and commercial milestones achieved by CellNexus. Products
in the partnership will use ARIAD's small-molecule dimerizer drug,
AP1903, which already has successfully completed a Phase 1 clinical
trial.

    The initial CellNexus product candidate is a novel cell therapy to
prevent and treat anemia in cancer patients, while eliminating
stimulation of tumor growth and angiogenesis by erythropoietin. The
rationale for this approach is the clinical finding that
erythropoietin - a growth factor - may exert unanticipated negative
effects in cancer patients (see, for example, Brower, V., Nature
Medicine 2003, 9: 1439). This highlights the potential need for new
cancer therapies that do not rely on administration of recombinant
forms of erythropoietin to treat anemia.

    "This partnership, along with the program we announced last year
with Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc., was established to create further
value for ARIAD based on our ARGENT technology without the need to
invest in the development costs associated with these exciting
efforts. By providing our proprietary technology to hundreds of
leading academic scientists, we have been able to facilitate the
discovery of new product concepts, targets and tools," said Harvey J.
Berger, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer of ARIAD. "Our
primary internal focus remains the development and commercialization
of our lead oncology product candidates, AP23573 and AP24534. We will
provide additional updates on progress in both programs at our
upcoming Investor & Analyst Day."

    ARIAD's relationship with CellNexus originated as an academic
collaboration with scientists from the University of Washington, led
by Professor C. Anthony Blau - who has worked extensively with ARIAD's
cell-signaling regulation technologies obtained through the Company's
broad-access program. To date, over 1,225 material transfer agreements
with 475 different institutions in 33 countries have been put in
place, including with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the
National Institutes of Health. The ARGENT technology permits control
of intracellular processes with small molecules, which is useful in
the development of therapeutic vaccines and gene and cell therapy
products, and which provides versatile tools for applications in cell
biology, functional genomics and drug-discovery research. Additional
information about Dr. Blau's research can be found on the web at
http://depts.washington.edu/hemeweb/research/blau.htm.

    Timothy P. Clackson, Ph.D., senior vice president and chief
scientific officer of ARIAD, added, "Our mTOR inhibitor programs,
including AP23573, evolved directly from scientific discoveries made
in our ARGENT technology program. Our early commitment to
understanding mTOR as a biological target and regulated cell signaling
continues to pay valuable scientific dividends, both in our own
oncology drug development programs and in the many research areas
being pursued by scientists in institutions throughout the world. We
continue to seek opportunities to create new products from our ARGENT
technology platform through licensing."

    ARGENT(TM) Cell-signaling Regulation Technology

    The ARGENT technology is based on the principle of chemically
induced dimerization, or linking, of proteins by small-molecule
compounds, known as "dimerizers." These unique compounds have two
binding surfaces that can interact simultaneously with two protein
targets, thereby bringing them close together and triggering desired
biological effects. This approach was first described by two of
ARIAD's long-time collaborators and scientific founders, Professors
Stuart L. Schreiber and Gerald R. Crabtree. ARIAD exclusively licensed
this technology in 1994 and substantially developed and extended the
technology further, building components for robust uses in animal
studies and exploring numerous potential research and therapeutic
applications.

    To facilitate broad and unencumbered access to the technology by
academic scientists, Regulation Kits incorporating the ARGENT system
are distributed by ARIAD at no cost to these investigators through a
standard material transfer agreement available on its website. These
kits have been used for a wide diversity of applications, from mapping
cell signaling pathways to target validation in inducible animal
models, as well as exploration of therapeutic interventions. Providing
extensive access has seeded many research projects that may provide
ARIAD with new product opportunities.

    More than 300 scientific papers have been published using the
ARGENT technology. Based on these publications, over 100 different
proteins have been brought under dimerizer control. These papers
highlight the broad research applications of the technology in the
study of cancer, cell death and survival, developmental biology,
adhesion, screening and assays, development of new experimental tools,
and potential therapeutic uses. Additional information about
availability of ARIAD's Regulation Kits can be found on the web at
http://www.ariad.com/wt/page/regulation_kits .

    About ARIAD

    ARIAD is engaged in the discovery and development of breakthrough
medicines to treat cancer by regulating cell signaling with small
molecules. The Company is developing a comprehensive approach to
patients with cancer that addresses the greatest medical need -
aggressive and advanced-stage cancers for which current treatments are
inadequate. Medinol Ltd. also is developing stents and other medical
devices that deliver ARIAD's lead cancer product candidate to prevent
reblockage at sites of vascular injury following stent-assisted
angioplasty. ARIAD has an exclusive license to pioneering technology
and patents related to certain NF-(kappa)B treatment methods, and the
discovery and development of drugs to regulate NF-(kappa)B
cell-signaling activity, which may be useful in treating certain
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 "may", "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
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 our ability to
accurately estimate the timing and actual R&D expenses and other costs
associated with the preclinical and clinical development and
manufacture of our product candidates, the adequacy of our capital
resources and the availability of additional funding, risks and
uncertainties regarding our ability to manufacture or have
manufactured our product candidates on a commercial scale, risks and
uncertainties regarding our ability to successfully recruit centers,
enroll patients and conduct clinical studies of product candidates,
risks and uncertainties that clinical trial results at any phase of
development may be adverse or may not be predictive of future results
or lead to regulatory approval of any of our or any partner's product
candidates including the product candidate referred to in this
release, risks and uncertainties of third-party intellectual property
claims relating to our and any partner's product candidates including
the product candidate referred to in this release, risks and
uncertainties related to the potential acquisition of or other
strategic transaction regarding the minority stockholders' interests
in our 80%-owned subsidiary, ARIAD Gene Therapeutics, Inc., and risks
and uncertainties relating to regulatory oversight, the timing, scope,
cost and outcome of legal and patent office proceedings concerning our
NF-(kappa)B patent portfolio, future capital needs, key employees,
dependence on collaborators and manufacturers, markets, economic
conditions, products, services, prices, reimbursement rates,
competition and other factors detailed in the Company's public filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including ARIAD's
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2006,
as updated from time to time in our subsequent periodic and current
reports filed with the SEC. 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.

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