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                                                                    Exhibit 99.1

For Immediate Release
Investor Contacts:
Elizabeth Foster or Claudia Jones
Neurocrine Biosciences
(858) 617-7600

Media Contact: Liz Frank of Cohn & Wolfe
(212) 798-9734

               NEUROCRINE BIOSCIENCES ANNOUNCES PLANS TO RESUBMIT
              INDIPLON MODIFIED RELEASE NEW DRUG APPLICATION (NDA)

San Diego, CA, January 11, 2005 - Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX)
announced today that the Company will resubmit its New Drug Application (NDA)
for indiplon modified release (MR) tablets to update its electronic formatting.
The indiplon MR filing was submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) on November 22, 2004. Neurocrine previously reported that the NDA for
indiplon immediate release (IR) capsules was not accepted by the FDA due to
difficulties encountered in navigating the NDA in the electronic common
technical document (CTD) format. The IR NDA included non-clinical, clinical and
manufacturing information that was common to both the IR and MR applications.
The reformatting of the indiplon MR NDA will ensure technical consistency with
the indiplon IR NDA since the two applications share CTD modules.  The
formatting issues are based on technical difficulties with the electronic
navigation and do not pertain to the content of either the IR or MR filings.

"We will be meeting with the FDA in late January to discuss our electronic
reformatting changes and to finalize the filing strategies. Based on this
meeting, we plan to submit both the IR and MR applications as soon as possible.
We anticipate only a modest impact on the expected timelines for approval and
launch of indiplon," said Gary A. Lyons, President and CEO of Neurocrine
Biosciences.

The Division of Neuropharmacological Drug Products is now responsible for the
indiplon review and approval process.  The filing contains studies which
comprise one of the most extensive programs conducted to date in insomnia, with
data from 68 clinical trials and over 80 preclinical studies and includes a
comprehensive safety and efficacy evaluation in over 7500 subjects. The NDAs
were filed in eCTD electronic format, which contain approximately 1500 volumes
or 524,000 pages of data.

Live Web Cast Tomorrow at the 23rd Annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference
As a reminder, Neurocrine will present at the 23rd Annual JP Morgan Healthcare
Conference tomorrow, Wednesday, January 12, which will be webcast live at
1:30 PM Eastern Standard Time (10:30 AM Pacific Standard Time). Participants may
access the live conference call by logging onto the Company's website at
www.neurocrine.com and when prompted select the 23rd Annual JP Morgan Healthcare
Conference. Upon registering, click on the menu for "Live Webcast", and then
select the company name, Neurocrine, to view the live presentation.  A replay of
the webcast will be available approximately 24 hours later and will be archived
until Wednesday, January 26, 2005. The live webcast can also be accessed during
the presentation through JP Morgan at http://equityconferences.jpmorgan.com and
following the above steps.

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. is a product-based biopharmaceutical company
focused on neurological and endocrine diseases and disorders.  Our product
candidates address some of the largest pharmaceutical markets in the world
including insomnia, anxiety, depression, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, irritable
bowel syndrome, eating disorders, pain, and autoimmunity.  Neurocrine
Biosciences, Inc. news releases are available through the Company's website via
the Internet at http://www.neurocrine.com

In addition to historical facts, this press release may contain forward-looking
statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties.  Among the factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the
forward looking statements are risks and uncertainties associated with
Neurocrine's business and finances, but not limited to, risk and uncertainties
associated with the Company's indiplon program and planned regulatory
activities.  Specifically, the risks and uncertainties the Company faces with
respect to its indiplon program include, but are not limited to; risk that the
Company will not be able to reformat the indiplon IR and/or MR NDA within the
Company's projected timelines; risk that the Company will be unable to reformat
the indiplon IR and/or MR NDA in a manner acceptable to the FDA; the risk that
regulatory authorities may reject our regulatory filings or find them incomplete
or insufficient; risk that additional clinical studies may be required to
support filings for regulatory approval; risk relating to the Company's
dependence on contract manufacturers for clinical drug supply and compliance
with regulatory requirements for marketing approval; risk that the Company may
not receive regulatory approval for indiplon or approval may be delayed; risks
associated with the Company's dependence on corporate collaborators for
commercial manufacturing and marketing and sales activities; risk that the
indiplon labeling granted by regulatory authorities may limit the commercial
success of indiplon; and the other risks described in the Company's report on
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003 and most recent report on Form
10-Q filed for the quarter ended September 30, 2004. Neurocrine undertakes no
obligation to update the statements contained in this press release after the
date hereof.