| Oct. 31, 2005 |
| Maruho Co., Ltd. Toray Industries, Inc. |
Maruho and Toray Partner on Phase III Therapeutic for Dialysis Patients in Europe |
Maruho Co.,Ltd. (Headquarters: Osaka, President: Koichi Takagi, hereafter referred to as "MARUHO") and Toray Industries, Inc. (Headquarters: Tokyo, President: Sadayuki Sakakibara, hereafter referred to as "TORAY") announced that the companies enter into a co-development agreement on Phase III therapeutics, antipruritic agent for dialysis patients in Europe. TRK-820 injection is a novel selective κ(kappa) opioid receptor agonist discovered by TORAY's Pharmaceutical Research Laboratory. MARUHO co-develops with TORAY only with regard to the TORAY's responsible part of Phase III study conducted in Europe of the co-development between TORAY and Acologix, Inc. (Headquarters: California, USA, President: Yoshinari Kumagai). Uremic pruritus is a systemic itching observed in dialysis patients for which there are not any drugs approved and conventional antiitching therapeutics such as antihistamines are ineffective. Serious consequences of itching due to uremic pruritus develop loss of sleep, depression, skin lesions, infections, hospitalization and an overall decrease in health and quality of life. As many as 50% of dialysis patients may suffer from uremic pruritus, and with developing severe and long-lasting effects in approximately 20% of them. MARUHO will do our best to accelerate a development project on TRK-820 in Europe in cooperation with TORAY which is expected as a novel therapeutics for uremic pruritus in dialysis patients. MARUHO and TORAY entered into an agreement on co-development and selling rights of TRK-820 as antipruritic agent for atopic dermatitis in Japan on 31st March 2005. Concerning the details of TRK-820, please refer to following. Supplemental material 1. Characteristics of TRK-820 TRK-820 is a novel selective κ(kappa) opioid receptor agonist, with a different mechanism from existing antipruritic drugs such as antihistamine. The drug is thought to suppress the pruritus mediated by the opioid-related mechanism and hence is expected to be effective in treating itching that is resistant to existing treatments such as antihistamine drugs. The compound is expected to make significant contributions to improve the quality of life of hemodialysis and atopic dermatitis patients. 2. Opioid receptors Receptors are on the surface of a cell membrane. When medical compounds bind to receptors, it triggers biological reactions. There are various types of receptors in the human body. Specific compounds bind only to specific receptors. The pharmacological action of substances depends on its receptors. Opioid receptors are one of such receptors that combines with opioids and trigger reactions. Initially, it was thought that there was only one type of opioid receptor but advanced studies later uncovered three types of opioid receptors: µ(mu,) δ(delta,) and κ(kappa). 3. Agonists Drugs and/or compounds that target receptors are classified as agonists or antagonists. Agonist drugs and/or compounds activate or stimulate their receptors, triggering a response that increases or decreases the cell's activity. <Corporate Profiles> Maruho Co., Ltd. Headquarters: 5-22, Nakatsu 1-chome, Kita-ku, Osaka President : Koichi Takagi Capital : 382.536 million yen Toray Industries, Inc. Headquarters : 1-1, Nihonbashi-Muromachi 2-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo President : Sadayuki Sakakibara Capital : 96.9 billion yen |
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