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°®¶¹´«Ã½. (Headquarters: Tokyo, President and CEO: Haruo Naito) announced today that the Company's Philippine subsidiary, HI-Eisai Pharmaceutical Inc. (Headquarters: Makati City, the Philippines, President: Lourdes Magno), launched “REVOVIR® 30mg Capsules” (generic name: clevudine) in the Philippines for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B.

REVOVIR® is a Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor (NRTI). It exerts anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) effects by inhibiting DNA polymerase, the enzyme that is necessary for the virus to replicate. Clinical studies have shown that a once-daily oral dose of REVOVIR® not only reduces the amount of HBV DNA, but also normalises alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels in patients experiencing deterioration in liver function caused by chronic hepatitis B.

REVOVIR® was approved in the Philippines in February 2009 and it is indicated for the inhibition of virus replication in chronic hepatitis B patients (HBeAg-positive or HBeAg-negative) with evidence of active viral replication and elevations in serum aminotransferases.

It is estimated that approximately 1.7 million people suffer from chronic hepatitis B in the Philippines. However, there are many patients who are unable to receive diagnosis and medical attention or who find it difficult to continue treatment due to a lack of awareness of the disease or their own economic circumstances. Eisai will strive to fulfil its commitment as a human health care (hhc) company to bring this new treatment to as many of these patients as possible at affordable prices and to contribute to the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis B in the Philippines.

Eisai obtained the exclusive rights to develop, market, and manufacture clevudine in eight Asian countries from Bukwang Pharma, a South Korean pharmaceutical company, and the development of the compound is ongoing in these countries with the exception of the Philippines. A Phase III clinical trial of clevudine has been initiated in China and marketing authorisation applications have been submitted in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Eisai considers hepatic disease as a therapeutic area of focus in China and other Asian countries and thus markets and develops drugs such as hepatic disease/allergic disease agents Stronger Neo-Minophagen C® and Glycyron® Tablets as well as branched-chain amino acid formula Livact® Granules. Through these efforts, Eisai will continue to make further contributions to increasing the benefits to patients with hepatic disease across Asia.