-Appoints Robert Terifay, Senior Vice President, Commercial Development and Strategy and Additional Senior Executives-

LEXINGTON, Mass., – April 8, 2005 – Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp., a product-focused biopharmaceutical company, today announced the appointment of Robert Terifay as Senior Vice President, Commercial Development and Strategy, and Stephen Gansler as Vice President, Human Resources. In addition, Synta has appointed Christina Gamba-Vitalo, Ph.D., as Senior Director, Drug Safety Assessment, and David Noskowitz as Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance.

“The addition of these experienced individuals adds important breadth to our management team and reinforces our commitment to bringing our product candidates forward from discovery, through all facets of clinical testing and pharmaceutical development, and ultimately, we hope, to the marketplace,” said Safi Bahcall, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Synta. “We are thrilled to have attracted such a stellar group of skilled and knowledgeable individuals to join the Synta team.”

Robert Terifay, Senior Vice President, Commercial Development and Strategy

Mr. Terifay joins Synta from Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., where he was Senior Vice President, Oncology Marketing and Sales and Corporate Commercial Services. In this position, he managed the marketing strategy and sales infrastructure that successfully launched Velcade® (bortezomib), a novel proteasome inhibitor for the treatment of multiple myeloma. At Millennium, Mr. Terifay contributed to the assessment of the market potential of early-stage research and development compounds and programs to determine long-term development, clinical, and marketing strategies for viable product candidates. As a company spokesperson for the financial community, Mr. Terifay provided the commercial perspective at securities analysts and earnings announcement presentations. Previously, Mr. Terifay was a Vice President at COR Therapeutics, which was acquired by Millennium in early 2002. In this capacity, he was responsible for successfully establishing the company's commercial presence in the acute care cardiovascular market. Under his management, the company's lead compound, Integrilin® (eptifibatide), achieved and sustained a number one market share position. Prior to working at COR, Mr. Terifay held positions at Klemtner Advertising, G.D. Searle & Company, and Schering Laboratories. Mr. Terifay holds a Masters of Management degree in Marketing and Health Service Management from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and earned his B.S. in Preprofessional Studies (Biology and Chemistry) at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

Stephen Gansler, Vice President, Human Resources

Mr. Gansler leads the Synta Human Resources team with more than 15 years of international and domestic management experience in the pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer products, and energy industries. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Covanta Energy Corporation since 2001. Previously, he spent 20 years at Johnson & Johnson, where he held management positions of increasing responsibility at various divisions, culminating as Worldwide Vice President, Human Resources, and Member of the Management Board at DePuy, Inc. Mr. Gansler started his career with General Motors Corporation. He received his Juris Doctor and M.B.A. from Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey and holds a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Administration from the General Motors Institute in Flint, Michigan.

Christina Gamba-Vitalo, Ph.D., Senior Director, Drug Safety Assessment

Dr. Gamba-Vitalo joins Synta from Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where she served as Director of Toxicology, Drug Safety Evaluation since 2000. In this capacity, Dr. Gamba-Vitalo was responsible for representing drug safety evaluation on project teams covering discovery, development, and marketing strategy for Millennium's oncology, metabolic, cardiovascular, and inflammation franchises. Previously, Dr. Gamba-Vitalo was employed by Antigenics, Inc. as Senior Director of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Prior to joining Antigenics, she held positions of increasing responsibility at Genzyme Transgenics Corp/Mason Laboratories Inc. including Director of Toxicology/Oncology and Program Leader/Associate Director of Toxicology and Pharmacokinetics. Dr. Gamba-Vitalo was a Post-doctoral Fellow/Associate at Yale School of Medicine's Department of Pharmacology. She earned her Ph.D. and M.S. degrees from New York University and her B.S from the City College of the City University of New York.

David Noskowitz, Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance

Mr. Noskowitz brings to Synta over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Most recently, Mr. Noskowitz was Director of Regulatory Affairs at Genzyme Corporation, where his efforts contributed to U.S., E.U., and international approvals of Aldurazyme® (laronidase), a treatment for Mucopolysaccharidosis I (MPS I). While at Genzyme, Mr. Noskowitz served as team leader for interdisciplinary project teams and provided regulatory perspective on in-licensing/acquisition due diligence activities. Prior to joining Genzyme in 2000, Mr. Noskowitz was Associate Director and Manager of Regulatory Affairs at Wyeth-Ayerst Research/Genetics Institute, Inc. Prior to that, Mr. Noskowitz served as Regulatory Affairs Manager at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Mr. Noskowitz received an M.Eng. degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, and earned both a B.S. in Environmental Engineering and a B.A. in Chemistry at the University of Rochester.

About Synta

Synta Pharmaceuticals is a product-focused biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing small-molecule drugs to extend and enhance the lives of patients with severe medical conditions, including chronic inflammatory disease and cancer. Synta currently has three drug candidates in human clinical trials, as well as a diverse pipeline of internally developed discovery programs. For more information, please see www.syntapharma.com.