MediciNova to Present At the Rodman and Renshaw Annual Global Investment Conference

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 4, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MediciNova, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that is publicly traded on the Nasdaq Global Market (Nasdaq:MNOV) and the Hercules Market of the Osaka Securities Exchange (Code Number: 4875), today announced that Shintaro Asako, Chief Financial Officer of MediciNova, will present a company overview at the Rodman and Renshaw Annual Global Investment Conference on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time. The conference is being held at The Palace Hotel in New York City.

A live webcast of the presentation can be accessed through MediciNova's Investor Relations website at http://investors.medicinova.com. An archived version of the presentation will be available for approximately 60 days following the event.

About MediciNova

MediciNova, Inc. is a publicly-traded biopharmaceutical company focused on acquiring and developing novel, small-molecule therapeutics for the treatment of diseases with unmet need with a specific focus on the U.S. market. Through strategic alliances primarily with Japanese pharmaceutical companies, MediciNova holds rights to a diversified portfolio of clinical and preclinical product candidates, each of which MediciNova believes has a well-characterized and differentiated therapeutic profile, attractive commercial potential and patent assets having claims of commercially adequate scope. MediciNova's pipeline includes six clinical-stage compounds for the treatment of acute exacerbations of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations, multiple sclerosis, asthma, interstitial cystitis, solid tumor cancers, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, preterm labor and urinary incontinence and two preclinical-stage compounds for the treatment of thrombotic disorders. MediciNova's current strategy is to focus its resources on its two prioritized product candidates, MN-221 for the treatment of acute exacerbations of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations and MN-166 for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, and either pursue development independently in the United States, in the case of MN-221, or establish a strategic collaboration to support further development, in the case of MN-166. MediciNova will seek to monetize its other product candidates at key value inflection points. For more information on MediciNova, Inc., please visit www.medicinova.com.

CONTACT: MediciNova, Inc.
         Shintaro Asako, Chief Financial Officer
         (858) 373-1500
         info@medicinova.com
         
         Rx Communications Group, LLC
         Rhonda Chiger
         (917) 322-2569
         rchiger@rxir.com