Pharmasset to Present at Lazard Capital Markets Healthcare Conference

PRINCETON, N.J., Nov. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pharmasset, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRUS) announces management will present at the Sixth Annual Lazard Capital Markets Healthcare Conference. The conference will be held at the St Regis Hotel in New York City (November 17-19, 2009).

Schaefer Price, Pharmasset's President and Chief Executive Officer, will provide an overview of the company on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 3:45 PM (ET).

To access a simultaneous webcast of Mr. Price's overview via the internet, log on to the "Events & Presentations" section of the Investor Center on Pharmasset's website at http://investor.pharmasset.com/events.cfm . Please connect to the website at least ten minutes prior to the start of the presentation to ensure adequate time for a reliable connection and any software download that may be necessary for the webcast.

A replay of the webcast will be available on Pharmasset's website for thirty days following the conference. The investor presentation will be available for download in PDF format immediately following each presentation in the "Events & Presentations" section of the Investor Center on Pharmasset's website at http://investor.pharmasset.com/events.cfm .

About Pharmasset
Pharmasset is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company committed to discovering, developing, and commercializing novel drugs to treat viral infections. Pharmasset's primary focus is on the development of oral therapeutics for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and, secondarily, on the development of Racivir(TM) for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Our research and development efforts focus on nucleoside/tide analogs, a class of compounds which act as alternative substrates for the viral polymerase thus inhibiting viral replication. We currently have three clinical-stage product candidates. RG7128, a nucleoside analog for chronic HCV infections, is in a Phase 2b clinical trial in combination with Pegasys® plus Copegus® and is also in INFORM studies, the first series of studies designed to assess the potential of combinations of small molecules without Pegasys® and Copegus® to treat chronic HCV. These clinical studies are being conducted through a strategic collaboration with Roche. Our other clinical stage candidates include PSI-7851, an unpartnered, next generation HCV nucleotide analog, has completed initial Phase 1 clinical studies which provided supportive safety and efficacy data to initiate a Phase 2a trial in 1Q 2010 and Racivir, for the treatment of HIV, which has completed a Phase 2 clinical trial. We have also recently announced the nomination of two purine nucleotide analogs, PSI-938 and PSI-879, for preclinical development.

Pegasys(®) and Copegus(® )are registered trademarks of Roche.

    Contact
    Richard E. T. Smith, Ph.D.
    VP, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
    richard.smith@pharmasset.com
    Office: +1 (609) 613-4181

Forward-Looking Statements
Pharmasset "Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding our business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, the risk that adverse events could cause the cessation or delay of any of the ongoing or planned clinical trials and/or our development of our product candidates, the risk that the results of previously conducted studies involving our product candidates will not be repeated or observed in ongoing or future studies involving our product candidates, the risk that our collaboration with Roche will not continue or will not be successful and the risk that any one or more of our product candidates will not be successfully developed and commercialized. For a discussion of these risks and uncertainties, any of which could cause our actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008 and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2009 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission entitled "Risk Factors" and discussions of potential risks and uncertainties in our subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.