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• For Print
• May 31, 2021

°®¶¹´«Ã½. (Headquarters: Tokyo, CEO: Haruo Naito, “Eisai”) and ITO EN, LTD. (Headquarters: Tokyo, President: Daisuke Honjo, “ITO EN”) announced today that both parties have entered into a business alliance agreement concerning the initiatives for supporting people living with and preventing dementia with the aim of realizing a healthy and long-lived society.

Through this alliance, Eisai and ITO EN aim to contribute to the solution of dementia, which is one of the important social issues, with integrating Eisai's wealth of experience and knowledge in drug creation and disease awareness activities in the area of dementia, as well as Eisai's solution measures such as digital technology, and ITO EN’s customer network through its community-based sales activities, as well as ITO EN’s problem-solving project related to cognitive function based on abundant research on Matcha (powdered green tea). The specific initiatives planned are as follows.

1. Providing the packaged solution

As support for holding seminars on exercise and food related to dementia disease awareness and brain health by local governments for residents, the packaged solution plans to be provided through ITO EN’s 186 business offices nationwide. The packaged solution includes Eisai's information materials for disease awareness, opportunities for checking brain performance using Eisai's brain performance (brain-health) self-check tool “NouKNOW_TM” (pronounced “NOH-NOH”, non-medical equipment), and ITO EN 's information and services related to Matcha and health.

2. Providing a set of products focusing on brain health

A set product which includes the Foods with Function Claims “Oi Ocha OMATCHA POWDER (stick 1.7g x 32)” produced by ITO EN, a prepaid card that can be used for "NouKNOW" and Eisai’s information materials related to brain health will be distributed in Japan.

3. Providing an opportunity to check brain performance at events and campaigns hosted by ITO EN

At the events and campaigns hosted by ITO EN, participants will be provided with the information on brain health and the opportunity to check brain performance using “NouKNOW”.

4. Initiation of brain performance check trial internally at ITO EN, towards the future utilization of brain performance checks in corporate health examinations

As a trial for the utilization of “NouKNOW” in corporate health examinations, verification of the effects of health consciousness and behavioral changes based on regular brain performance checks among willing ITO EN employees has been ongoing.

Eisai, which aims to eliminate the diverse anxieties of each individual (The People) by constructing a dementia ecosystem through coexisting with other industries and organizations, and ITO EN, which explores the potential of tea and aims to be a health creation company that contributes to the era of 100 years of life, will promote co-creation of value toward the realization of a healthy and long-lived society so that people can lead a happy life in their own way by combining the strengths of both company.

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 Media Inquiries

• °®¶¹´«Ã½.

  Public Relations Department

  TEL: +81-(0)3-3817-5120
  

• ITO EN, LTD.

  Public Relations Department

  TEL: +81-(0)3-5371-7185
  

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<Notes to editors>

1. °®¶¹´«Ã½ °®¶¹´«Ã½.

°®¶¹´«Ã½. is a leading global research and development-based pharmaceutical company headquartered in Japan. We define our corporate mission as “giving first thought to patients and their families and to increasing the benefits health care provides,” which we call our human health care (hhc) philosophy. With approximately 10,000 employees working across our global network of R&D facilities, manufacturing sites and marketing subsidiaries, we strive to realize our hhc philosophy by delivering innovative products to address unmet medical needs, with a particular focus in our strategic areas of Neurology and Oncology.

Eisai has started a new medium-term business plan “EWAY Future & Beyond” in April 2021, aiming to remove the anxiety of The People, including not only patients but also society at large, with delivering not only pharmaceutical products but also solutions to The People, utilizing the latest digital technology such as AI. Eisai will achieve this goal with “hhceco”, which is the hhc philosophy combined with ecosystem. Eisai aims to remove diverse anxiety of The People by coexisting with various industries and associations, centered on the Eisai Universal Platform which delivers a packaged solutions in addition to pharmaceutical products through synergies between the technologies of various external partners and its own R&D.

As a global pharmaceutical company, our mission extends to patients around the world through our investment and participation in partnership-based initiatives to improve access to medicines in developing and emerging countries.

For more information about °®¶¹´«Ã½., please visit

2．°®¶¹´«Ã½ ITO EN, LTD.

In 1984, ITO EN succeeded in creating the world’s first canned green tea beverage “Canned Sencha (whole green tea leaves)” and building the market for green tea beverage. “Oi Ocha”, ITO EN's flagship brand was launched in 1989 and it has been the leading green tea brand in Japan, and today, it spreads all over the world. Thus, ITO EN has delivered innovative products with a number of company-own “World’s First” and “Industry-First” tea research and technology development.

As our company's long-term vision of being a “Global Tea Company”, ITO EN aims to offer good life contributing to the well-being of its customers around the world  under ITO EN Group’s management principle of “Always Putting the Customer First” based on our product development concept that are “natural”, “healthy,” “safe,” “well-designed,” and “delicious”. Focusing on leaf (tea leaf) products and tea-based beverage products, ITO EN is working to engage in business that leads to sustainable growth, by establishing a position in Japan as a “comprehensive beverage company”, strengthening the brand of the entire group and creating synergies.

For more information about ITO EN, LTD., please visit

3．°®¶¹´«Ã½ “NouKNOW_TM”

“NouKNOW” is a self-checking tool of brain performance (brain health) developed by Eisai based on the algorithm created by Cogstate, Ltd. (Headquarters: USA and Australia) for which Eisai holds the rights for exclusive development and commercialization worldwide. It is conducted through a simple card test using a PC, tablet or smartphone device to quantitatively measure brain performance in four tests evaluating psychomotor function, attention, learning and memory, and working memory. This digital tool allows users to self-assess independently and in a short time frame (approx.15 minutes), enabling regular assessments in instances such as daily life and health checkups. On the results screen, a score (brain performance index (BPI)) - as a measurement of quantified brain performance aspects such as memorization, cognition, and decision - appears along with lifestyle advice for maintaining brain performance.

4．°®¶¹´«Ã½ Foods with Function Claims “Oi Ocha OMATCHA POWDER”
“Oi Ocha OMATCHA POWDER” is a food with functional claims that “improves the accuracy of cognitive function (attention / judgment)” by containing the health-promoting qualities of theanine and tea catechin. The amount of functional substance per unit of recommended daily intake, which is 2 bottles a day, contains 50.3 mg of theanine and 171 mg of tea catechin. “Oi Ocha OMATCHA POWDER” is recommended for those who are concerned about cognitive function (attention / judgment) decline owing to aging. Using Matcha (powdered green tea) produced from the tea leaves cultivated originally under the contract with ITO EN, it brings out the traditional rich flavor of Matcha. In addition to stick types, beverage types in 370 ml bottles are also available.

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