Avalon Pharmaceuticals to Present at BIO InvestorForum 2006

GERMANTOWN, Md., Oct. 16  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq and ArcaEx(R): AVRX), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule therapeutics, today announced that Kenneth C. Carter, Ph.D., President and CEO, is scheduled to provide an update on the Company at the BIO InvestorForum 2006.

The conference will be held at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, CA on October 17-19, 2006 and Dr. Carter is scheduled to present on Wednesday, October 18th at 2 p.m., PDT, in the Presidio Room.

A live audio webcast of this presentation can be accessed on Avalon Pharmaceuticals' website, http://www.avalonrx.com/. A replay of the presentation will also be available for 90 days after the conference.

About Avalon Pharmaceuticals

Avalon Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule therapeutics through the use of a comprehensive, innovative and proprietary suite of technologies based upon large-scale gene expression analysis which it calls AvalonRx(R). This platform facilitates drug discovery by expanding the range of therapeutic targets for drug intervention, including targets and target pathways frequently considered intractable using conventional HTS approaches, allows more informed decisions about which compounds to advance towards clinical trials, and facilitates drug development through identification of biomarkers of efficacy that can stratify patients or provide early indicators of response. Avalon's focus is oncology but the company has discovery programs in other therapeutic areas with partners. Avalon Pharmaceuticals was established in 1999 and is headquartered in Germantown, Maryland.

  Contacts:
  Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.             Noonan Russo
  Gary Lessing                             Wendy Lau (Media)
  Executive Vice President & CFO           Tel: [phone]
  Tel: [phone]
  Fax: [phone]                      The Trout Group LLC
  Email:                  Chad Rubin (Investors)
                                           Tel: [phone] ext. 47


DATASOURCE: Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.



CONTACT:  Gary Lessing, Executive Vice President & CFO, Avalon

Pharmaceuticals, Inc., [phone], ; Media: Wendy Lau of

Noonan Russo, [phone]; Investors: Chad Rubin of The Trout Group LLC,

[phone] ext. 47



Web site:  http://www.avalonrx.com/ 

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