Cocrystal Pharma Reports 2019 Financial Results and Outlines Expected Value-Driving Milestones for 2020 Advancing preclinical COVID-19 Coronavirus program leveraging patent rights recently acquired from Kansas State Univ

Pharma Reports 2019 Financial Results and Outlines Expected Value-Driving Milestones for 2020

WA, March 30, 2020 - Cocrystal Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: COCP), ("Cocrystal" or the "Company"),

a clinical stage biotechnology company discovering and developing novel antiviral therapeutics, announced today its financial

results for the year ended December 31, 2019, provided its business outlook for 2020 and outlined its expected value-driving milestones.

are currently witnessing a unique opportunity to leverage our core competencies and decade of experience in the antiviral therapeutics

space with the global health crisis of COVID-19. Our COVID-19 program consists of work performed globally by CRO's and in

our own laboratory. Our team is working to develop novel antiviral compounds to treat Coronavirus infections by leveraging our

proprietary drug discovery platform. Given the growing global need for a treatment, our primary focus is to advance this program

further into preclinical development as quickly and efficiently as possible," stated Dr. Gary Wilcox, Chairman and

Chief Executive Officer of Cocrystal.

the course of 2019, our exclusive worldwide license and collaboration agreement with Merck to discover and develop Cocrystal's

influenza A/B antiviral agents provides additional validation of our platform technology and the opportunity to develop novel

broad spectrum antivirals. Additionally, the advancements made across our pipeline throughout 2019 helped to establish the foundation

from which we will leverage to build momentum for our influenza, hepatitis C virus, norovirus and coronavirus development programs,"

added Dr. Wilcox. "Cocrystal is fully committed to the successful execution of our strategy and believes our achieving the

corporate, clinical and regulatory milestones we have outlined for 2020 has the potential to drive significant shareholder value."

Sam Lee, President of Cocrystal, commented, "We are navigating our way through these unprecedented times. While necessary

mandates have been implemented by government officials, we are still able to perform essential activities and keep our development

programs moving forward. Thankfully, our employees are also able to continue working remotely and our team is functioning well

under these circumstances. We remain committed to meeting our corporate and development milestones throughout the year."

Expected Value-Driving Milestones in 2020

A/B Inhibitors: Merck Collaboration

of Financial Results for 2019

of December 31, 2019, Cocrystal had approximately $7,418,000 cash on hand. Based on the subsequent capital raises discussed below

and management's current projections, the Company believes it has sufficient capital to continue operations for the next

Company recognized revenue from Merck of $6,564,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019, compared with $0 for the year ended

December 31, 2018. During the year ended December 31, 2019 the revenue from Merck consisted of $4,368,000 as consideration in

exchange for conveyance of intellectual property rights at the signing of the agreement, $1,838,000 for research and development

activities related to its influenza A/B program and $358,000 for program expense reimbursements.

and development expenses were $4,004,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019, compared with $4,667,000 for the year ended December

31, 2018. This year over year decrease in research and development expenditures was primarily due to the completion of our HepC

Phase 2 clinical trial and continued expense reimbursements from Merck. We expect research and development expenses to increase

in 2020 due to advancing our coronavirus and norovirus programs.

and administrative expenses were $4,863,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019, compared with $4,352,000 for the year ended

December 31, 2018. This increase of $511,000 was primarily due to professional fees associated with litigation matters and insurance

had a net loss of $48,169,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019 primarily due to a $46,103,000 goodwill impairment, compared

to a net loss of $49,048,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018 primarily due to a $53,905,000 IPR&D impairment. These 2019

and 2018 impairments are non-cash impairments of intangible assets.

to December 31, 2019, the Company closed the following offerings of its common stock to certain institutional investors:

Cocrystal Pharma, Inc.

Pharma, Inc. is a clinical stage biotechnology company discovering and developing novel antiviral therapeutics that target the

replication machinery of influenza viruses, hepatitis C viruses, noroviruses and coronaviruses. Cocrystal employs unique structure-based

technologies and Nobel Prize winning expertise to create first- and best-in-class antiviral drugs. For further information about

Cocrystal, please visit www.cocrystalpharma.com.

Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,

including statements regarding our ability to drive significant shareholder value, the achievement and the expected timing of

the corporate, clinical and regulatory milestones, including the completion of IND-enabling studies, filing of regulatory submissions

and commencement of a Phase 1a study in our Influenza A program, continued collaboration with Merck in our Influenza A/B program,

issuance of final report of the Phase 2a study and expected progress of partnering effort in our HepC program, filing of a patent

application, development of inhibitors and initiation of preclinical studies in our COVID-19 program, and filing of a patent application

and selection of the lead preclinical molecule in our Norovirus program, expected advancement of discussions with potential strategic

partners, our expected research and development expenses, and our liquidity. The words "believe," "may,"

"estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "should," "plan,"

"could," "target," "potential," "is likely," "will," "expect"

and similar expressions, as they relate to us, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking

statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events. Some or all of the events anticipated by these

forward-looking statements may not occur. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from those in the forward-looking

statements include, but are not limited to, risks arising from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our Company, including our

ability to proceed with our programs, receive necessary regulatory approvals and continue to rely on certain third parties, and

on the national and global economy, our reliance on continuing collaboration with Merck under the collaboration agreement, the

availability of products manufactured by third parties, the results of preclinical and clinical studies, general risks arising

from clinical trials, receipt of regulatory approvals, our ability to find and enter into agreements with suitable collaboration

partners, litigation expenses and other expenses and factors that affect the capital markets in general and early stage biotechnology

companies specifically. Further information on our risk factors is contained in our filings with the SEC, including our Annual

Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019. Any forward-looking statement made by us herein speaks only as of the

date on which it is made. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it

is not possible for us to predict all of them. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether

as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.