Targacept Announces Participation in Upcoming Conferences

Targacept, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRGT), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel NNR Therapeutics (TM), today announced that:

J. Donald deBethizy, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, is scheduled to present at the Morgan Stanley Global Healthcare Conference at the Grand Hyatt New York in New York City on Monday, September 13, 2010 at 2:45 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time; and
Alan A. Musso, Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Officer, is scheduled to present at the Stifel Nicolaus 2010 Healthcare Conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston on Wednesday, September 15, 2010 at 10:55 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Each presentation will be webcast and accessible from the Investor Relations page of Targacept’s website, www.targacept.com. To ensure a timely connection to either webcast, it is recommended that users register at least 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. An archived version of each webcast will be available for replay on the Investor Calendar section of the Investor Relations page of Targacept’s website for at least two weeks following the corresponding event.