EXHIBIT 99.1

                                                          Contact: Paul V. Maier
                                                       Senior Vice President and
                                                         Chief Financial Officer
                                                                  (858) 550-7573
                                                               PMAIER@LIGAND.COM

                   LIGAND UPDATES AVINZA(TM) LAUNCH PROGRESS,
                  REVISES SECOND QUARTER REVENUE GUIDANCE, AND
     REITERATES FULL-YEAR REVENUE GUIDANCE WITH DIFFERENT PRODUCT SALES MIX

 -- PRODUCT MIX ADJUSTMENTS REFLECT REDUCED WHOLESALER PURCHASES IN SECOND
  QUARTER, SOFTER THAN EXPECTED DEMAND GROWTH FOR ONTAK(R) AND TARGRETIN(R) --

     SAN DIEGO, CALIF., JULY 9, 2002 - Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated
(Nasdaq: LGND) announced today the full, national launch of its fifth product,
AVINZA(TM), by the company's 80-person sales force to approximately 9,000
physicians during the secoND quarter. AVINZA (morphine sulfate extended-release
capsules) is indicated for the once-daily treatment of chronic,
moderate-to-severe pain in patients who require continuous, around-the-clock
opioid therapy for an extended period of time.

     "Launching AVINZA into a multibillion-dollar market is a major milestone in
Ligand's commercial evolution into a high-growth specialty pharmaceutical
company," said Thomas Silberg, executive vice president and chief operating
officer of Ligand. "We are launching AVINZA with a highly motivated,
well-trained sales force with full scientific promotional materials, supported
at launch by five peer-reviewed journal articles that confirm the product's
clinical value in large-scale clinical trials and pharmacokinetic studies. In
addition, managed care organizations have responded very favorably to the
attributes of AVINZA, and we expect the product to enjoy rapid, significant
formulary acceptance."

     The initial stocking of AVINZA in retail pharmacies by wholesalers has
proceeded well, thus facilitating product availability for chronic pain
patients. Ligand's initial shipments to wholesalers were $11.5 million,
approximately $4 million of which is expected to be included in second-quarter
product sales. The goal of the first round of shipments is to quickly expand
retail availability for patients to 10,000 pharmacies. All of these pharmacies
are receiving one bottle each (1 x 100 capsules) of the 30 and 60 mg. strengths
of AVINZA, and up to 5,000 of them also are expected to receive the 90 and 120



mg. strengths. A second round of shipments is expected to begin during the third
quarter. These shipments should expand distribution of all doses to up to an
additional 5,000 pharmacies, bringing to 15,000 the number of pharmacies
stocking the 30 and 60 mg. doses, and to 10,000 the number of pharmacies
stocking all four doses. Depending upon the rate of prescription uptake, a third
round of shipments to reach an additional 5,000 pharmacies is planned for as
early as the fourth quarter.

     Based on the progress of the initial retail distribution program, positive
progress in managed care formulary availability for this year, and recent
positive market research and physician interest, Ligand is increasing its
guidance for 2002 AVINZA sales to approximately $30 million. Ligand does not
expect definitive prescription demand curve trends to be clear until eight to 10
weeks after launch, although the company will be tracking new prescriptions
regularly toward its goal of 30,000-50,000 prescriptions this year (in a market
of more than 12 million prescriptions).

     Ligand continues to make progress in its co-promotion discussions with
Elan, and is working to complete these discussions as early as possible in the
third quarter.

LIGAND REVISES SECOND QUARTER REVENUE GUIDANCE, REITERATES FULL-YEAR GUIDANCE OF
$82-90 MILLION WITH DIFFERENT PRODUCT SALES MIX

     In the second quarter, Ligand's product sales were negatively affected by
approximately $6-8 million at quarter-end by several major wholesalers'
decisions not to purchase, or to purchase reduced quantities of, our marketed
products, as well as by lower-than-expected demand growth during the second
quarter. The lower-than-expected demand growth was due primarily to delays in
completion and data publication of key ongoing, expanded-use clinical trials in
B-cell NHL and CLL, and to delays in the initiation of new, expanded use
physician-initiated trials in a number of key indications for ONTAK(R)
(denileukin diftitox) and Targretin(R) (bexarotene) capsules.

     Ligand has assessed current and future wholesaler inventories of its
specialty products, and the impact of slower demand growth in the second
quarter, on expected sales growth of ONTAK and Targretin in the second half of
2002. Compared to 2001, prescription growth has been positive in 2002

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for Ligand's existing products, with the exception of Panretin(R) gel. However,
based oN its second-quarter experience to date, Ligand believes overall growth
trends will be lower than expected in 2002 for products other than AVINZA. As a
result, the company is revising its fiscal 2002 guidance for worldwide sales of
its existing products, excluding AVINZA, to the range of $50-55 million, with no
change to the full-year guidance including AVINZA.

     "Although we are disappointed with product sales in the second quarter, we
are pleased to reaffirm our previous guidance for the full year based on the
strong launch of AVINZA," Mr. Silberg said. "Specifically, we continue to expect
to roughly double product sales in 2002 to between $82 and $90 million."

     With the release of Ligand's second-quarter financials at the end of July,
the company expects to provide additional guidance on expenses, which were lower
than expected in the first quarter, and on the impact, if any, of changes in
product sales mix on gross margins and fiscal 2002 EPS guidance.

OTHER EVENTS

     Ligand also announced that it has formally withdrawn its European Marketing
Authorization Application (MAA) for Targretin gel in early-stage CTCL. Due to
the small size of the European CTCL market and the limited revenue potential of
Targretin gel, Ligand believes that the additional comparative clinical studies
requested by the EMEA could not reasonably be conducted prior to approval and
were not economically justified.

     Ligand has recently completed a Phase I/II trial of Targretin gel in 55
U.S. patients with hand dermatitis and is analyzing the data. Ligand believes
that if this data is positive, a combined U.S./European development program in
this large dermatology market would be a faster and more economically attractive
investment, enabling resubmission in Europe for the potential new indication.
Targretin capsules are approved and being launched in Europe for CTCL, and
Ligand regrets that European cancer patients will not benefit from the gel
product's availability, as a growing number of patients do in the United States.

     Separately, the company announced it has completed a resale registration
(on form S-3) for the

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shares of its common stock sold to institutional investors in a private
placement in April 2002, following a full review of the registration statement
by the Securities and Exchange Commission, including review of Ligand's 2001
10-K and first quarter 2002 10-Q reports and financial results.

ABOUT LIGAND

     Ligand discovers, develops and markets new drugs that address critical
unmet medical needs of patients in the areas of cancer, skin diseases, men's and
women's hormone-related diseases, osteoporosis, metabolic disorders, and
cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases. Ligand's proprietary drug discovery
and development programs are based on its leadership position in gene
transcription technology, primarily related to Intracellular Receptors (IRs) and
Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription (STATs).

WEB CAST CONFERENCE CALL

     Ligand will host a live web cast, open to all interested parties, of a
conference call during which senior management will discuss this news release.
The web cast will be available at WWW.STREETEVENTS.COM and WWW.LIGAND.COM
(investor relations page) at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time (5:30 a.m. Pacific Time)
Wednesday, July 10, and will be archived for 30 days.

CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

     This news release contains forward-looking statements by Ligand that
involve risks and uncertainties and reflect Ligand's judgment as of the date of
this release. These statements include those related to AVINZA sales, shipments,
pharmacy stocking, retail availability and distribution; formulary acceptance,
market research, physician interest, guidance and co-promotion discussions;
wholesaler inventories, demand and prescription growth; ONTAK, Targretin and
general product sales and total revenue growth and guidance; Targretin gel
clinical trials and development, market size and MAA resubmission. Actual events
or results may differ from Ligand's expectations. For example, we may not be
able to successfully market and supply AVINZA or the other products mentioned
and sales may not meet our guidance and expectations. We may not be able to
conclude a favorable co-promotion arrangement with Elan. Sales and supplies of
other products may likewise not meet our expectations due

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to a number of factors including doctor prescribing, wholesaler purchasing
patterns and supplier operations. Clinical trials may not produce favorable
results and marketing applications may not be approved. Additional information
concerning these and other risk factors affecting Ligand's business can be found
in prior press releases as well as in Ligand's public periodic filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, available via the company's internet site at
www.ligand.com. Ligand disclaims any intent or obligation to update these
forward-looking statements beyond the date of this release. This caution is made
under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995.

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