OXiGENE Appoints Tamar D. Howson and Peter J. Langecker to Its Board of Directors

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April 5, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OXiGENE, Inc.
(Nasdaq:OXGN), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel
therapeutics to treat cancer and eye diseases, today announced the appointment
of Tamar Howson and its current CEO, Dr. Peter J. Langecker, to its Board of
Directors. 

Ms. Howson's successful career spans 20 years in the pharmaceutical business,
and her track record of nearly 100 transactions make her one of the industry's
preeminent business development executives. 

"Tamar Howson brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of both big pharma
and the biotechnology industry to the OXiGENE Board," stated Peter J.
Langecker, M.D., Ph.D., OXiGENE's CEO. "Tamar joins OXiGENE at a time when we
are looking to transform the company by establishing critical partnerships and
licensing agreements. Tamar's outstanding track record in that space and her
tremendous expertise in evaluating and structuring transactions will be of
significant help to OXiGENE as we work to maximize the value of our exciting
product candidates through corporate partnerships. We look forward to her
contributions and welcome her to the team." 

Most recently, Ms Howson has been a member of the transaction team at JSB
partners, a partnering consulting firm specializing in the biotechnology
industry. Previously, she served as Executive Vice President of Corporate
Development for Lexicon Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Lexicon, she served as Senior
Vice President of Corporate and Business Development and was a member of the
executive committee at Bristol-Myers Squibb. During her tenure there, Ms.
Howson was responsible for leading the company's efforts in external alliances,
licensing and acquisitions. Earlier, Ms. Howson served as Senior Vice President
and Director of Business Development at SmithKline Beecham. She also managed SR
One Ltd., the $100 million venture capital fund of SmithKline Beecham. Ms.
Howson has served as an independent business consultant and adviser to
companies both in the United States and in Europe. She held the position of
Vice President, Venture Investments at Johnston Associates, a venture capital
firm, and earlier as Director of Worldwide Business Development and Licensing
for Squibb Corporation. 

Ms. Howson currently serves on the boards of Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(Nasdaq:IDIX), a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and
development of drugs for the treatment of human viral diseases, and S*Bio Pte
Ltd. She also serves as a consultant to Pitango Venture Fund and is a member of
the advisory board to Triana Venture Partners. She previously served on the
boards of Ariad Pharmaceuticals, SkyePharma, NPS Pharma, Targacept, and HBA.
Ms. Howson received her M.B.A. in finance and international business from
Columbia University. Educated as a chemical engineer, she holds a M.S. from the
City College of New York and a B.S. from the Technion in Israel. 

Peter J. Langecker, M.D., Ph.D., who joined OXiGENE as Chief Development
Officer in June 2009 and who was named interim CEO in October 2009 and
permanent CEO in February 2010, has also been appointed to OXiGENE's Board of
Directors. Dr. Langecker has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical
and biotechnology industry at companies such as CIBA GEIGY, Schering-Plough,
Coulter Pharmaceuticals and SUGEN and he served six years on the Board of
Directors of XCYTE Therapies in Seattle. 

"I am delighted to welcome both Tamar Howson and Dr. Langecker to OXiGENE's
Board of Directors," stated William N. Shiebler, Chairman of the Board of
OXiGENE. "Tamar and Peter are highly experienced executives with many years of
leadership experience in the biotechnology industry. Their insight and
expertise will be invaluable to OXiGENE as we continue to execute our
strategies for building shareholder value through novel drug discovery and
development." 

About OXiGENE

OXiGENE is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel
therapeutics to treat cancer and eye diseases. The Company's major focus is
developing vascular disrupting agents (VDAs) that selectively disrupt abnormal
blood vessels associated with solid tumor progression and visual impairment.
OXiGENE is dedicated to leveraging its intellectual property and therapeutic
development expertise to bring life-extending and life-enhancing medicines to
patients. 

The OXiGENE, Inc. logo is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=4969


Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect
management's current views regarding OXiGENE's continued product development
operations, the value and potential of OXiGENE's product candidates in
development and the likelihood and potential of collaborations with third
parties. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties,
including but not limited to (i) OXiGENE's product candidates are in the early
to mid-stage phases of clinical development and the risk of failure is high and
can occur at any stage prior to regulatory approval; (ii) OXiGENE may not be
successful in securing additional funding or commercialization partners; (iii)
OXiGENE may not be able to successfully obtain regulatory approval for product
candidates in development; (iv) OXiGENE's patent applications for product
candidates may not issue, its issued patents may not be enforceable; and/or
intellectual property licenses from third parties may be required in the future
as a result of litigation or otherwise; and (v) other important risks and
uncertainties set forth in OXiGENE's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results could differ
materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.
OXiGENE undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements, whether
as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. 

CONTACT:  OXiGENE, Inc.
          Investor and Media Contact:
          Michelle Edwards, Investor Relations
          650-635-7006
          medwards@oxigene.com