Threshold Pharmaceuticals Appoints Nipun Davar as Vice President of Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - Nov 2, 2011) - Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: THLD) today announced the appointment of Nipun Davar, Ph.D., MBA, as its Vice President of Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing. In this position Dr. Davar will lead all activities related to formulation development and manufacturing of TH-302, Threshold's Phase 3 clinical stage hypoxia-targeted cancer therapeutic.

"As a Phase 3-stage company, establishing a robust supply chain for TH-302 is vital from both regulatory and commercial perspectives," stated Barry Selick, Threshold's Chief Executive Officer. "This senior hire underscores our confidence in and commitment to 302 and we are delighted to have someone of Nipun's caliber join the Threshold team and spearhead this key effort."

Dr. Davar has sixteen years of extensive biopharmaceutical industry experience including senior leadership positions with responsibility for product development and manufacturing at Transcept Pharmaceuticals and ALZA Corporation. Dr. Davar's various roles have encompassed drug delivery-based product development, clinical and commercial supply chain management, regulatory filings and product approvals. He received a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Maryland and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business.

Dr. Davar commented, "TH-302 has impressed me with its potential to have huge benefit for cancer patients and their families. The compound should be broadly applicable against a wide variety of tumors and one has few opportunities in life to be part of an effort as promising as this program. I am excited to be joining the Threshold team."'

About Threshold Pharmaceuticals and TH-302

Threshold is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of drugs targeting Tumor Hypoxia, the low oxygen condition found in microenvironments of most tumors. This approach offers broad potential to treat solid tumors as well as the bone marrows of patients with some hematologic malignancies. By selectively targeting tumor cells, we are building a pipeline of drugs that hold promise to be more effective and less toxic to healthy tissues than conventional anticancer drugs. TH-302 is a novel, small molecule hypoxia-targeted prodrug invented by scientists at Threshold. This drug candidate has shown broad activity against a variety of tumor types, alone and in combination with approved chemotherapy agents. For additional information, please visit our website at (www.thresholdpharm.com).

Forward-Looking Statements

The statements in this press release regarding TH-302 and its potential therapeutic uses and benefits, mechanism of action and clinical trials include forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that can cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, Threshold's ability to raise sufficient funding to conduct the Phase 3 trial of TH-302 for patients with soft tissue sarcoma and to successfully enroll patients in a timely manner, whether the Company's clinical trials will show results predicted by the Company's pre-clinical trials or confirm the results of earlier trials, the time and expense required to conduct such clinical trials and analyze data, issues arising in the regulatory or manufacturing process, any unanticipated or increased side-effects observed in patients receiving TH-302, and whether the results of the Phase 3 trial of TH-302 are sufficient to support regulatory approval by the FDA, notwithstanding receipt of a Special Protocol Assessment. Further information regarding these and other risks is included under the heading "Risk Factors" in Threshold's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, which was filed with the Securities Exchange Commission on August 4, 2011 and is available from the SEC's website (www.sec.gov) and on our website (www.thresholdpharm.com) under the heading "Investors." We do not intend to update any forward-looking statement made in this news release.