- For Print
- July 14, 2009
Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, President and CEO: Haruo Naito, “Eisai”) announced today that the Company’s generic subsidiary Elmed Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, President: Masaki Nemoto, “Elmed”) had signed a license agreement with Sanwa Kagaku Kenkyusho (Headquarters: Nagoya, President and CEO: Kazuo Yamamoto, “Sanwa Kagaku”) on sales in Japan of its MENILET® 70%Jelly20g and MENILET® 70%Jelly30g (isosorbide, collectively “Products”), an oral formulation of osmotic diuretic and Meniere’s disease-improving agent.
Under the conditions of the agreement, Elmed shall obtain from Sanwa Kagaku the exclusive rights to market the Products in Japan. Eisai will partner with Elmed on the marketing of the Products.
The Products, developed by Sanwa Kagaku and packaged in single-unit doses, are a Japanese Pharmacopoeia isosorbide jelly formulation in which the bitterness derived from isosorbide is masked. The Products have been marketed by Sanwa Kagaku in Japan since July 2005 and used to reduce brain pressure in patients with brain tumour and with brain hypertension associated with head injury, to excrete kidney stones and ureteral stones, to reduce intraocular pressure associated with glaucoma, and to treat Meniere’s disease.
The Products have a diuretic effect caused by an increase in the osmotic pressure within the tubule. They also reduce intracranial, intraocular, and endolymphatic pressure by increasing the osmotic pressure in blood plasma.
Currently, the Products are mainly used by ENT doctors for the treatment of patients with Meniere’s disease, which is characterised by repetitive attacks of severe rotatory vertigo with ear ringing and hearing loss and which has also been designated as an intractable disease by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. It is estimated that Meniere’s disease affects 15 to 18 out of every 100,000 people in Japan; however, its prevalence is increasing year after year.
With the conclusion of this agreement, Eisai and Elmed aim to maximise the value of the Products, and make further contributions to improving patient’s quality of life and increasing their benefits.