EA Pharma Co., Ltd.
EA Pharma Co., Ltd. (President, Yuji Matsue; Headquarters, Tokyo, Japan) (hereinafter “EA Pharma”), the gastrointestinal disease area subsidiary of Eisai Co., Ltd.,. announced today that EA Pharma signed yesterday a license agreement with JW Pharmaceutical CORPORATION (Representative Directors, Kyung Ha Lee, Sung Kwon Han; Headquarters, Seoul, Korea) (hereinafter “JWP”) to grant JWP the rights to develop and market a secondary hyperparathyroidism treatment agent (Code: AJT240) in Korea for patients receiving hemodialysis.
Secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) is one of the complications that occurs with progression of chronic renal disease (chronic renal failure). In SHPT, the parathyroid glands excessively secrete parathyroid hormone (PTH). Excessive PTH promotes efflux of phosphorus and calcium from bone into the blood. This increases the risk of bone fracture or causes deposition of phosphorus and calcium salts in non-bone tissues, i.e., ectopic calcification, which leads to bone pain, joint pain and other symptoms. Particularly, there has been reported that, when the deposition occurs in the cardiovascular system, the risk of cardiovascular diseases including arteriosclerosis increases and even can affect prognosis.
AJT240 directly acts on the calcium-sensing receptor expressed on the cell membrane of parathyroid glands and suppresses the excessive secretion of parathyroid hormone. AJT240 is an intravenous injection that can be administered through the dialysis circuit intravenously after a dialysis session. This is expected improve medication adherence of patients receiving maintenance dialysis and reduce the gastrointestinal side effects such as nausea, vomiting and the like that are observed in treatment with existing oral SHPT drugs.
The above license granted to JWP will contribute to fulfillment of unmet medical needs of patients with SHPT receiving hemodialysis in Korea.
EA Pharma will strive to make a contribution to patients, their families and medical practitioners in the world through development of pharmaceuticals focusing on the gastrointestinal disease area and creation of new medical value.
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EA Pharma Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Eisai Co., Ltd. for gastrointestinal disease area, was established in April 2016 by integration of the gastrointestinal business unit with at least 60 years history of the Eisai Group and the gastrointestinal business unit of the Ajinomoto Group having amino acid as its business core. EA Pharma is a gastrointestinal specialty pharma with a full value chain covering R&D, logistics and sales & marketing.
For more information on EA Pharma Co., Ltd., please see http://www.eapharma.co.jp/
AJT240 was created and developed by Ajinomoto Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. (now EA Pharma). For Japan market, EA Pharma concluded a license agreement for development and marketing of AJT240 with SANWA KAGAKU KENKYUSHO CO., LTD. (SANWA KAGAKU). SANWA KAGAKU is now conducting PII clinical study in Japan under the code number SK-1403.