SAN DIEGO, CA (April 19, 2004) – Discovery Partners International, Inc. (DPI) has reached agreement with Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cambridge, MA, to assist Vertex in advancing drug discovery for one of its advanced research programs, DPI announced this week.

Financial terms and the exact nature of the research program involved were not disclosed. DPI and Vertex have worked together previously, according to Taylor J.Crouch, president and chief operating officer of Discovery Partners.

DPI’s services, products, and systems include target characterization, targeted and screening-library design and synthesis, high throughput and high content screening, lead generation and optimization, gene expression analysis, and protein crystallization, DPI said. The company is headquartered in San Diego.