PHARMANETICS TO BROADCAST ITS THIRD QUARTER CONFERENCE CALL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 17, 2002

PHARMANETICS TO BROADCAST ITS THIRD QUARTER CONFERENCE CALL LIVE ON THE INTERNET

Raleigh, NC (October 17, 2002) – PharmaNetics, Inc. (Nasdaq/NM: PHAR), a leader in theranostic management specializing in managing the delivery of therapeutics affecting coagulation, announced today that it will provide an online Web simulcast of its third quarter 2002 earnings conference call on Tuesday, October 29, 2002. The Company's results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2002, will be released prior to the opening of the market on Tuesday, October 29, 2002.

The live broadcast of PharmaNetics' conference call will begin at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on October 29, 2002. A 48-hour online replay will be available approximately two hours following the conclusion of the live broadcast. A link to these events can be found on the Company's website at www.unispheremag.com or at www.companyboardroom.com.

PharmaNetics, Inc., a leading biotech company, conceived the term “theranostics,” defining an emerging new field of medicine that enables physicians to monitor the effect of antithrombotic agents in patients being treated for angina, myocardial infarction (heart attack), stroke, and pulmonary and arterial emboli. The Company develops, manufactures and markets rapid turnaround diagnostics to assess blood clot formation and dissolution. PharmaNetics develops tests based on its proprietary, dry chemistry Thrombolytic Assessment System for its principal target market of managing powerful new drug compounds, some of which may have narrow therapeutic ranges, as well as for monitoring routine anticoagulants.