Exhibit 99.1

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GLYCOGENESYS, INC. TAPS TWO BOSTON AREA SENIOR BIOTECH VETERANS AS INTERIM CHIEF
SCIENTIFIC OFFICER AND VP OF DEVELOPMENT AND MANUFACTURING; ANNOUNCES DEPARTURE
OF SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, OPERATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT

  BOSTON, September 18, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- GlycoGenesys, Inc.
  (NASDAQ:GLGS), a biotechnology company focused on carbohydrate-based drug
  development, today announced that Jean Nichols, Ph.D., past President and
  Chief Technology Officer of Seragen, Inc., has joined the Company as interim
  Chief Scientific Officer. In addition, Mark Staples, Ph.D. joined the Company
  as Vice President of Development and Manufacturing. Dr. Staples was previously
  Senior Director of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Praecis Pharmaceuticals,
  Incorporated (Nasdaq: PRCS). Christopher P. Szustkiewicz, Ph.D. former Senior
  Vice President, Operations and Development has left the Company to pursue
  other interests.

  From 1983 through 1999, Dr. Nichols helped build Seragen, Inc. becoming its
  President and Chief Technology Officer in 1996. Under her leadership, in
  February 1999 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted marketing
  approval for ONTAK for the treatment of patients with persistent or recurrent
  Cutaneous T Cell Lymphoma to Ligand Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: LGND), which
  acquired Seragen in 1998. Most recently, Dr. Nichols was Managing Director and
  Chief Operating Officer of StoneGate Partners, LLC, an investment firm for
  technology companies in New England.

  Prior to her 15-year career with Seragen, Dr. Nichols was an Instructor and a
  research fellow in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at
  Harvard Medical School. She has authored more than thirty-five articles, is an
  inventor on five patents and received her B.S. in Biology and a Ph.D. in
  Bacteriology/Immunology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

  Dr. Staples has enjoyed a 22-year career in biotechnology, most recently at
  Praecis and for eight years prior to that with Biogen, Inc. (Nasdaq: BGEN). At
  Praecis he managed Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) development and
  compilation for PLENAXIS(R), a prostate cancer therapeutic, for which a New
  Drug Application (NDA) submission was filed in December 2000. While at Biogen,
  Dr. Staples contributed to the development of AVONEX(R)from clinic to market,
  including analytical and formulation development. He has managed
  pharmaceutical product development resulting in six Investigational New Drug
  (IND) applications. Dr. Staples received a B.A. in Chemistry and Biochemistry
  and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, and
  performed postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School.

  "I am very pleased to welcome Jean and Mark to GlycoGenesys. Their combined
  experience and successful contributions to cutting-edge new chemical entities
  from pre-IND to successful NDA submissions, culminating in marketing approvals
  of ONTAK and Avonex, will enhance our advancement of GCS-100 in the field of
  oncology." stated Bradley J. Carver, CEO and President.

  GLYCOGENESYS, INC.

  GlycoGenesys develops and licenses pharmaceutical and agricultural products.
  The Company's human therapeutic product GCS-100, formerly referred to as
  GBC-590, a unique compound to treat cancer, which has completed a Phase IIa
  human clinical trial in both colorectal and pancreatic cancer. In February
  2002, the Company initiated a Phase I dose escalation trial of GCS-100 at
  Sharp Clinical Oncology Research in San Diego, California. In the area of
  agriculture, GlycoGenesys continues to seek strategic alternatives for
  Elexa-4(R) Plant Defense Booster. Further information is available on
  GlycoGenesys' web site: www.glycogenesys.com
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  Safe Harbor Statement

  Any statements contained in this release that relate to future plans, events
  or performance are forwarding-looking statements that involve risks and
  uncertainties, including, but not limited to, risks of product development
  (such as failure to demonstrate efficacy or safety), risk related to FDA and
  other regulatory procedures, market acceptance risks, the impact of
  competitive products and pricing, the results of current and future licensing,
  joint ventures and other collaborative relationships, the results of financing
  efforts, developments regarding the intellectual property rights and
  litigation, and other risks identified in the Company's Securities and
  Exchange Commission filings. Actual results, events or performance may differ
  materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
  forward-looking statements, which speak only as the date hereof. The Company
  undertakes no obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to
  these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or
  circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of
  unanticipated event.

  CONTACT:
  GlycoGenesys, Inc.
  Senior Vice President and CFO
  John W. Burns, 617/422-0674
  or
  GlycoGenesys, Inc.
  VP of Business Development
  Rick Pierce, 617/422-0674
  www.glycogenesys.com