Point Therapeutics Announces Form S-4 Registration Statement Declared Effective by SEC; Special Meeting of Stockholders Set for

  
    
  
  
    
      Point Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: POTP) 
      today announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission has declared 
      effective its Form S-4 Registration Statement, which contains a joint 
      proxy statement/prospectus relating to the proposed merger with DARA 
      BioSciences, Inc. Each company will promptly commence mailing of the 
      joint proxy statement/prospectus to its respective stockholders.
    
    
      Point will hold a meeting of its stockholders on January 29, 2008 at 
      10:00 am, Eastern Time, at the law office of Ropes & Gray LLP, One 
      International Place, 36th Floor, Boston, MA 
      02110, and DARA will hold a meeting of its stockholders on January 28, 
      2008 at 10:00 am, Eastern Time, at 4505 Falls of Neuse Road, Raleigh, NC 
      27609, to consider matters relating to the proposed combination of the 
      two companies.
    
    
      On October 9, 2007, Point entered into a definitive agreement to merge 
      with DARA. Pursuant to the merger agreement, DARA will merge with DP 
      Acquisition Corp., a newly-formed subsidiary of Point, with DARA 
      surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Point. After giving effect to 
      the merger, DARA stockholders will hold 96.4% of the combined company’s 
      outstanding shares of common stock on a fully-diluted basis, and Point 
      will change its name to DARA BioSciences, Inc. and be based in Raleigh, 
      North Carolina. For information regarding the proposed merger, please 
      refer to the registration statement on Form S-4, which contains a joint 
      proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant materials, filed by Point 
      with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 17, 2007.
    
    
      About DARA BioSciences, Inc.:
    
    
      DARA BioSciences(TM), Inc. is a Raleigh, North Carolina-based 
      development-stage pharmaceutical company that acquires promising 
      therapeutic molecules and medical technologies. DARA focuses its 
      therapeutic development efforts on small molecules from late preclinical 
      development through phase 2 clinical trials. DARA is developing a 
      portfolio of therapeutic candidates for neuropathic pain, metabolic 
      diseases including Type 2 diabetes, and dermatological disorders.
    
    
      About Point Therapeutics, Inc.:
    
    
      Point Therapeutics, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company which has 
      studied its lead product candidate, talabostat, in a number of human 
      clinical trials in late-stage cancers. In May 2007, interim clinical 
      results caused Point's Independent Data Monitoring Committee to 
      recommend stopping Point's two Phase 3 talabostat studies for patients 
      in advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Subsequently, the talabostat 
      clinical development program was put on clinical hold by the U.S. Food 
      and Drug Administration. Point has also studied talabostat in several 
      Phase 2 trials, including as a single-agent and in combination with 
      cisplatin in metastatic melanoma, in combination with rituximab in 
      advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia, in combination with gemcitabine 
      in Stage IV pancreatic cancer, and in combination with docetaxel in 
      non-small cell lung cancer. Due to cash limitations, Point is not 
      currently funding any internal research or clinical operations.
    
    
      FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS:
    
    
      This press release contains forward-looking statements, including 
      statements regarding the timing of the special meetings of stockholders 
      and closing of the merger, that involve known and unknown risks, 
      uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual outcomes to differ 
      materially from outcomes expressed or implied by this press release. 
      Such risk factors include, among others that the matters submitted for 
      stockholder approval at the special meetings of stockholders may not be 
      approved. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in 
      the forward-looking statements in this press release. Additional 
      information concerning these and other risk factors is contained in the 
      Risk Factors sections of the Form S-4 filed with the Securities and 
      Exchange Commission on December 17, 2007, and from time to time in 
      Point's other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
    
    
      Additional Information and Where to Find It
    
    
      In connection with the merger between DARA and Point, on December 17, 
      2007, Point filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-4, 
      which contains a joint proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant 
      materials. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF POINT AND DARA ARE URGED TO 
      READ THE JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND THE OTHER RELEVANT 
      MATERIALS BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT DARA, POINT 
      AND THE MERGER. The joint proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant 
      materials and any other documents filed by Point with the SEC, may be 
      obtained free of charge at the SEC’s web site 
      at www.sec.gov. In addition, investors 
      and security holders may obtain free copies of the documents filed with 
      the SEC by Point by directing a request to: Point Therapeutics, Inc., 70 
      Walnut Street, Wellesley Hills, MA 02481, Attention: Investor Relations.
    
    
      Point and its executive officers and directors may be deemed to be 
      participants in the solicitation of proxies from the stockholders of 
      Point in favor of the merger. Investors and stockholders may obtain 
      detailed information regarding the direct and indirect interests of 
      DARA, Point and their respective executive officers and directors in the 
      merger by reading the joint proxy statement/prospectus regarding the 
      merger.