Cubist Pharmaceuticals President and CEO Michael Bonney Honored by Massachusetts Biotechnology Council with its 2010 Innovative Leadership Award

Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBST) today announced that its President and CEO Michael Bonney will be honored with the second annual Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio) Innovative Leadership Award. Mr. Bonney will receive this recognition at an awards luncheon at the MassBio Annual Meeting on March 31^st at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston.

The MassBio Innovative Leadership award honors an industry executive who represents a company that has a strong presence in and commitment to growing in Massachusetts. Additionally, the award recognizes a leader who has demonstrated active support for community-based organizations and science education to prepare the future workforce, and who has fostered the creation of a positive work environment.

During his tenure at Cubist, Mr. Bonney created a successful and innovative business model to support the development and commercialization of novel therapies that improve health and save lives. Under his leadership, Cubist completed development of and launched CUBICIN® (daptomycin for injection), which is now in its seventh year since launch in the U.S. It continues to track as the most successful intravenous (IV) antibiotic, in dollar terms, in U.S. history. Building on its success, the company is advancing a clinical pipeline of therapies to treat acutely ill patients. Today’s pipeline includes drug candidates for the treatment of certain serious infections caused by multi-drug-resistant Gram negative bacteria – a growing public health threat. To support its growing pipeline of therapies, Cubist has grown its employee base, from 194 when Mr. Bonney became CEO, to more than 600 today. In addition, the company recently received approval from the Town of Lexington to add an additional 110,000 sq. ft. of lab space at its Lexington headquarters.

Last year, Cubist garnered several plaudits, including the top spot in the MassEcon Sixth Annual Team Massachusetts Economic Impact Awards in the Greater Boston Region, the top spot in The Boston Globe’s 21st annual "Globe 100” listing of Massachusetts-based publicly traded companies, and for the second consecutive year, Cubist appeared in the Globe 100’s Top Places to Work, ranking 37^th on the overall list and as the top-ranked life sciences company.

In his role at Cubist and his position as an industry leader, Mr. Bonney thinks broadly about innovation. As a keynote speaker at last fall’s PDA/FDA Joint Regulatory Conference in Washington, D.C., Mr. Bonney addressed the need for innovative thinking by industry and other stakeholders, including regulators and physicians, across all aspects of the drug discovery and development process. A copy of his remarks can be found at the following URL: http://www.cubist.com/downloads/PDA_FDA_Presentation_and_Remarks.pdf

Mr. Bonney balances his life in business with his dedication to his family, as well as to giving back to his community, both organizationally and personally. Under his leadership, Cubist has established a corporate giving program focused on the support of middle and upper school science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education – a topic for which Bonney is a vocal proponent. In addition to his role as President and CEO of Cubist, Mr. Bonney serves on the Boards of Trustees of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Bates College. Earlier this year, Mr. Bonney became a board member of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

"Mike is truly committed to supporting each and every aspect of the biotechnology ecosystem here in Massachusetts, and Cubist’s success under his leadership has been a shining example for biotech startups around the world,” said Robert K. Coughlin, President & CEO of MassBio. "From his work in STEM education and workforce development, to his passion for policy and advocacy, Mike is a shining example of the values behind the biotechnology industry.”

About Cubist

Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the research, development, and commercialization of pharmaceutical products that address unmet medical needs in the acute care environment. In the U.S., Cubist markets CUBICIN® (daptomycin for injection), the first antibiotic in a new class of anti-infectives called lipopeptides. Cubist also promotes MERREM® I.V. (meropenem for injection) in the U.S. under an agreement with AstraZeneca. The Cubist clinical product pipeline currently consists of ecallantide, a recombinant human protein being developed for the reduction of blood loss during cardiac surgery for which we currently are analyzing Phase 2 data; a Phase 2 program, added with Cubist’s acquisition of Calixa Therapeutics Inc. in December 2009, focused on the development of a novel cephalosporin to address certain serious infections caused by multi-drug resistant (MDR) Gram-negative organisms; a program for the treatment of CDAD (Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea), now entering Phase 2; and a Phase 1 program intended to address the unmet medical need for a treatment for serious infections caused by MDR Gram-negative pathogens. Cubist is also working on several pre-clinical programs, which would address areas of significant medical needs. These include an anti-infective program for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in children, therapies to treat various serious bacterial infections, and agents to treat acute pain. Cubist is headquartered in Lexington, Mass. Additional information can be found at Cubist’s web site at www.cubist.com.

Cubist and CUBICIN are registered trademarks of Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
AstraZeneca and MERREM are registered trademarks of the AstraZeneca group of companies.

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