Zeria, Kyowa Hakko in Japan Co-development and Co-marketing Agreement for Asacol(R) for Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Tokyo, Japan, Feb 8, 2007 - (JCN) - Zeria and Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., Ltd. concluded an agreement on January 29 for the co-development and co-marketing of Asacol - development code Z-206, generic name mesalazine, Asacol is an oral enteric-coated pharmaceutical formulation of mesalazine, a drug for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Asacol was exclusively licensed in 2004 from Tillotts Pharma AG in Switzerland to Zeria, and the clinical Phase III trials are underway.

With this agreement, clinical development for ulcerative colitis is performed by Zeria alone but that for Crohn's disease will be conducted jointly.

After a marketing approval, Zeria will perform blistering and packaging, and supply to both companies for co-marketing the product.

Distribution, marketing and activities of providing, gathering and transmitting medical information will be conducted in parallel - 1 brand, 2 channels.

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