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CONTACTS : Reiko Sato (Japan)
Y's Therapeutics Co., Ltd.
+011 81 3 5784-2762
media.relations@ysthera.com
Debra Bannister (US Media)
530 676-8001
debban@pacbell.net
Kissei Pharmaceutical Options Antibody from Y's Therapeutics
Tokyo, Japan - Sept. 27, 2004 - Y's Therapeutics, a privately held biopharmaceutical company, and Kissei Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., announced today an agreement in which Y's Therapeutics granted Kissei the right of first refusal to an exclusive license in Japan for commercialization of YSCMA, one of Y's Therapeutics' leading projects in the area of cancer and immune diseases.
"We are very pleased to have the opportunity to partner with Kissei Pharmaceutical," stated Mr. Masanori Murayama, Co-founder, President and CEO of Y's Therapeutics. "Kissei has a solid presence in Japan, and we believe they are an ideal collaborator for our YSCMA project, which has great potential in the treatment of cancers and immune diseases that have been very difficult to treat. I believe that entering into an agreement with a high profile company like Kissei is additional evidence of YSCMA's promising viability. This agreement and the series of collaborations in development strengthen our confidence in the project."
In a collaboration announced earlier this year, U.S. biopharmaceutical company Abmaxis, Inc. undertook the discovery of human antibodies specific to the YSCMA antigen. The discovery stage of the project has successfully been completed, producing humanized antibodies of high affinity and strong biological activity. Under a custom manufacturing agreement with Lonza Biologics, the cell line for producing the YSCMA antibodies is currently under construction, prior to scale-up production by Lonza for preclinical toxicology and pharmacology studies. Y's Therapeutics is also in the process of determining the target indications from the various types of tumors.
About YSCMA
YSCMA is a human monoclonal antibody therapeutic for hematological cancers, solid tumors and immune diseases. The target antigen is a transmembrane surface glycoprotein found on a number of tissues including leukocyte subsets and epithelial cells. Multiple biological functions have been identified including T-cell activation, processing of biological factors, interaction with extracellular matrix, and tumor development. Y's Therapeutics targets the commencement of preclinical studies by the end of this year and IND submission in early 2006.
About Kissei Pharmaceutical
Kissei's management vision is to be an R&D-oriented pharmaceutical company that contributes to the health of people around world through developing and offering innovative drugs. Kissei is actively pursuing collaboration with many companies to strengthen its R&D pipeline, and also promoting the global expansion by licensing out the original agents as an important management strategy. For more information on Kissei, please see the international website
http://www.kissei.co.jp/e_contents/profile.htm
About Y's Therapeutics
Y's Therapeutics, www.ysthera.com, is a privately held biopharmaceutical company with a focus on the development of antibody therapeutics and small molecule drugs for cancer, immune diseases and inflammatory diseases. Y's Therapeutics has five projects in the portfolio, having sourced those seeds from academia. The company pursues co-research opportunities with academic institutions, as well as in-licensing opportunities from private sector firms for future candidate drug discovery. Y's Therapeutics takes forward development activities including generating therapeutic antibodies, production and formulation development, preclinical tests and clinical trials. Y's Therapeutics was founded in March 2003, and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
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