Kyowa Hakko Obtains Encouraging Clinical Results for Its New Approach to Treatment of Parkinson's Disease

20-Feb-2002

Tokyo, Feb. 18, 2002 - (JCN Newswire) - Kyowa Hakko, a leading Japanese research-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, has successfully completed two Phase 2A clinical trials in the United States which demonstrate potential for the treatment of Parkinson's disease by Kyowa Hakko's proprietary compound KW-6002. The details of these studies will be announced at the American Academy of neurology (AAN) Conference in Denver this April.

KW-6002 is a selective A2A antagonist that provides a unique and promising mechanism of action for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. It is confirmed that KW-6002, in either mono or combination therapy with levodopa or dopamine agonists, improves the symptoms of Parkinson's disease in an animal model (i.e. Parkinsonian monkey model) without increasing incident or severity of dopaminergic-related side effects or inducing or worsening dyskinesia.

"KW-6002 has potential as a new type of Parkinson's drug therapy that differs in mechanism from present dopamine-related agents including levodopa, dopamine agonists and COMT inhibitors," says Tadashi Hirata, Ph.D., President and CEO of Kyowa Hakko. "We expect that KW-6002 will be an important contribution to the treatment and well-being of Parkinson's disease patients."

Dr. Hirata continued, "we have submitted patent applications worldwide for use of this new class of drugs to treat Parkinson's disease."

Currently, Kyowa Hakko is preparing for pivotal Phase IIb and Phase III trials in the United States and elsewhere in the world. Dr. Hirata added that the global development of KW-6002 for treating Parkinson's disease demonstrates Kyowa Hakko's commitment to develop innovative pharmaceutical products for the global marketplace and to maximize our Pharmaceuticals business and new technologies.

About Kyowa Hakko Kyowa Hakko (www.kyowa.co.jp), a leading Japanese research-based, pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, is devoted to discovering, developing, manufacturing, and marketing quality pharmaceutical products and bio-chemicals such as amino acids. Six compounds including KW-6002 and KW-7158(an agent for treating urinary incontinence) as strategic themes are now under development overseas. Additionally, its pharmaceutical central research is focused on two therapeutic fields and drug discovery utilizing antibody-based technologies. Those therapeutic fields include cancer and allergies, where Kyowa Hakko has a strong background worldwide with products such as Mitomycin and Olopatadine.

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