Eisai and Abbott Announce Amendment to Agreement for the Co-promotion of Rheumatoid Arthritis Drug HUMIRA® in Taiwan and Korea

Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, President & CEO: Haruo Naito) today announced an amendment to the agreement with Abbott Biotechnology Ltd. (Headquarters: Bermuda President: Thomas C Freyman), concerning the sales of the rheumatoid arthritis drug HUMIRA® (generic name: adalimumab, fully human anti-TNF-α monoclonal antibody) in Taiwan and Korea. According to the revised agreement which was signed on February 28, 2007, Eisai's regional subsidiaries will purchase products from the Abbott's regional subsidiaries as the distributor in the regions, and both companies will co-promote the product under the brand name HUMIRA®. The sales will be booked to the Eisai's subsidiaries in Taiwan and Korea.

HUMIRA® is an antibody medication discovered and developed by Knoll AG (a company that Abbott acquired in 2001). The amendment follows the basic agreement signed in June 1999 for the joint development and marketing of the drug in Japan, Taiwan and Korea, in which the two companies originally agreed to a separate marketing and promotion scheme with their own separate brand names.

Currently HUMIRA® is approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis in Taiwan and rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis in Korea. The product launch in these regions is expected to be in April 2007, after completing the necessary preparation. In the U.S. and Europe, the product is marketed by Abbott.

Eisai believes that the new revised agreement for the co-promotion will ensure further contributions in increasing the benefits to the patients and their families by serving the needs of the people with rheumatoid arthritis with HUMIRA® in Taiwan and Korea.

[Please see the following note for the product information]