SBI Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd.

SBI Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and CEO: Yoshitaka Kitao; “SBI Pharmaceuticals), a subsidiary of SBI Holdings, Inc., engaged in research and development of pharmaceuticals, health foods and cosmetics using 5-aminolevulinic acid (“5-ALA”)^*1, hereby announces that a patent has recently been registered in Japan for the treatment and prevention of chronic kidney disease.

Patent number:5881721
Title of invention : An agent for the treatment and prevention of chronic kidney disease
Assignee: SBI Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd.
Filing date: October 5, 2012

Chronic kidney disease refers to a type of disease involving a chronic deterioration of kidney functions, and it normally occurs through a process of gradual loss of kidney function over a long period of time. To date, no therapeutic agent is known to exist to directly treat chronic kidney disease, and the complete therapy for the deterioration of kidney function is limited to kidney transplantation and dialysis.

SBI Pharmaceuticals recently discovered that administering 5-ALA would potentially serve to increase the eGFR (*2) of the patients of chronic kidney disease and directly improve the kidney’s filtration ability or prevent it from deteriorating, which has resulted in the registration of the above-mentioned patent.

SBI Pharmaceuticals will continue to pursue various potential applications of 5-ALA, and focus on research and development to provide pharmaceuticals that satisfy the unmet medical needs of as many people as possible around the world.

*1: 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA)
An amino acid produced in mitochondria. It is an important substance that serves as a functional molecule related to energy production in the form of heme and cytochromes, and its productivity is known to decrease with age. 5-ALA is contained in food such as shochu lees, red wine and Asian ginseng. It is also known as a material forming chloroplasts in plants.

*2: eGFR
Acronym of estimated glomerular filtration rate, which is calculated from the results of serum creatinine as well as the age and gender of the patient. eGFR is used most frequently as an index of the progression stage of chronic kidney disease.

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For further information, please contact:
SBI Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd.: Corporate Planning Dept., Tel: +81-3-6229-0095

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