Article Highlights the Potential of Sugars for Therapeutic Drug Development

CAMBRIDGE, MA — October 12, 2004 – Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: MNTA), a biotechnology company developing drugs based on sugar sequencing technology, announced today the publication of “Glycomics: A Pathway to a Class of New and Improved Therapeutics” in the October issue of Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. This review article describes the challenges associated with analyzing complex sugars and highlights the vast potential of sugars for therapeutic drug development. Co-authors of the article include Momenta co-founder and MIT Professor of Biological Engineering, Ram Sasisekharan, Ph.D., and Zachary Shriver, Ph.D., a principal scientist at Momenta.

The authors discuss the latest advancements in sugar sequencing and structure-function analysis, including technologies being pioneered by Momenta and others, which enable scientists to make specific improvements to sugar-based drug products and to elucidate the role of sugars in therapeutic mechanisms of action for new drug products.

“This article demonstrates the recent advances in understanding which can be applied to unlock the long-term therapeutic potential of sugars,” said Robert Langer, Ph.D., Kenneth J. Germeshausen Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at MIT and a scientific advisor and Board member of Momenta Pharmaceuticals. “A company like Momenta is at the forefront of sugar-based drug development with its novel technologies, enabling rapid and complete sequencing of complex sugars and the unique correlation of structure and function.”

About Sugars and Drug Development

Complex sugars “coat” most therapeutic proteins, which make up an estimated $30 billion market, and confer specific biological properties to the underlying protein, modulating its activity, efficacy, and pharmacokinetic profile. In addition, sugars themselves have many advantages as therapeutic agents including their inherent stability and reduced immunogenic profile. The application of sugars to therapeutic development has been hindered in the past, however, by the inability to analyze the specific structures which make up complex sugars. Companies like Momenta, which has novel capabilities for sequencing and completing structure-function analyses, are now in a position to make specific improvements to sugar-based therapeutics and to identify sugars’ particular role in therapeutic action.

About Momenta
Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biotechnology company specializing in the sequencing and engineering of complex sugars for the development of improved versions of existing drugs, the development of novel drugs and the discovery of new biological processes. Momenta is also utilizing its ability to sequence sugars to create technology-enabled generic products. The Company’s most advanced product candidate is M-Enoxaparin, a technology-enabled generic version of Lovenox®. Based on its understanding of complex sugars, Momenta has created a diversified pipeline of novel discovery and development candidates. Momenta was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Cambridge, MA.

To receive additional information about Momenta, please visit our website at www.momentapharma.com, which does not form a part of this press release.

Forward Looking Statements
Statements in this press release regarding Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans or prospects constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Momenta’s actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those factors contained in Momenta’s final prospectus dated June 21, 2004 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with Momenta’s initial public offering under the section “Risk Factors,” as well as other documents that may be filed by Momenta from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Momenta’s expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “could”, “estimate”, “expect”, “intend”, “may”, “should”, “will”, and “would” or similar words. Momenta assumes no obligations to update the information included in this press release.

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Contact: Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Valerie Threlfall, 617-395-5116

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