ATLANTA, GA -- (Marketwire) -- 09/10/08 -- AtheroGenics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AGIX), a pharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases, today announced that it has restructured its Board of Directors to reduce the number of directors from ten to six in order to better align the size of its Board with the current needs of the Company. Remaining on the Board will be:

  Michael A. Henos                Chairman of the Board, AtheroGenics, Inc.
                                  Managing Partner, Alliance Technology
                                  Ventures, L.P.
  R. Wayne Alexander, M.D., Ph.D. Chairman, Department of Medicine
                                  Emory University School of Medicine
  Samuel L. Barker, Ph.D.         Founder, Clearview Projects, Inc.
  Vaughn D. Bryson                Retired President and Chief Executive
                                  Officer Eli Lilly and Company
  Margaret E. Grayson             President, Coalescent Technologies
  Russell Medford, M.D., Ph.D.    President and Chief Executive Officer,
                                  AtheroGenics, Inc.

"We believe that the new AtheroGenics' Board continues to provide the expertise and experience to guide our Company going forward and to maximize value for all of our varied stakeholders," said Michael A. Henos, Chairman of the AtheroGenics Board of Directors.

In connection with the Board restructuring, David Bearman, T. Forcht Dagi, M.D., Arthur M. Pappas and William A. Scott, Ph.D., resigned from the Board of Directors. Mr. Henos commented, "We want to thank the departing Board members for their hard work and contributions to the Company."

About AtheroGenics

AtheroGenics is focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel drugs for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases, including diabetes and coronary heart disease (atherosclerosis). The Company's lead antioxidant and anti-inflammatory drug candidate, AGI-1067, is being studied for the treatment of diabetes and has completed a Phase 3 clinical trial known as ANDES (AGI-1067 as a Novel Anti-Diabetic Agent Evaluation Study). In addition, the Company has other clinical and preclinical anti-inflammatory compounds, including AGI-1096, an oral agent for the prevention of organ transplant rejection. For more information about AtheroGenics, please visit http://www.atherogenics.com.