Conclusion of a license agreement between BioComber and Chugai on patents related to PURESYSTEM^®

BioComber Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO; Jun Yamada; hereafter, "BioComber") and Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President: Osamu Nagayama; hereafter, "Chugai") concluded a license agreement pertaining to "Process for producing peptides by using in vitro transcription/translation system." a patent owned by BioComber on November 30, 2009.

The content of the agreement is as follows: Chugai will use PURESYSTEM^®, a reconstituted Escherichia coli in vitro translation system owned by BioComber, to step up the drug discovery research of antibodies and other substances. Since this system can be optimized for each purpose of experiments, it is expected to efficiently promote a variety of drug discovery research. Chugai will pay a license fee to BioComber.

Jun Yamada, President and CEO of BioComber, has stated as follows: "We are delighted that Chugai will use our PURESYSTEM^® to carry out drug discovery research. We hope that this technology will contribute to the development of biopharmaceuticals including antibody drugs."

Dr. Hisafumi Okabe, Vice President, General Manager of Research Division of Chugai, has stated as follows: "PURESYSTEM^® is one of the useful technologies, and we will aggressively utilize for the global development of antibody drugs. We are placing high hopes on the outcomes of using this Japan-originated technology."

Chugai will use BioComber's PURESYSTEM^® to carry out research to discover new drugs, and the two companies will work to enhance the quality of research and expedite the process.

About BioComber
BioComber is a reagent manufacturing company established in June 2009. It deals with a group of products focusing on the PURESYSTEM^® technology including the synthesis of proteins incorporated with nonnatural amino acids and the detection of inter-protein interactions, etc.

Name: BioComber Co., Ltd.
Address of head office: 4-33-16 Sengoku, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo
Established: June 8, 2009
Capital: JPY 10,000
Representative: Jun Yamada, President and CEO
Home Page: http://www.biocomber.co.jp

About Chugai
Chugai Pharmaceutical, specialized in prescription pharmaceuticals and based in Tokyo, is one of Japan's leading research-based pharmaceutical companies with strengths in biotechnology products.
Since the start of the strategic alliance with Roche in October 2002, Chugai is actively involved in prescription pharmaceutical R&D activities in Japan and abroad as an important member of the Roche Group. Specifically, Chugai is working to develop innovative products with global applications, focusing on the disease areas of oncology, renal disease, and bone and joint.
In Japan, Chugai's research facilities in Gotemba and Kamakura are collaborating to develop new pharmaceuticals and Ukima is conducting research for technology development for industrial production.
Overseas, Chugai Pharma USA and Chugai Pharma Europe are engaged in clinical development activities in the United States and Europe.
The consolidated sales in 2008 of Chugai totalled 326.9 billion yen and the operating profit was 51.6 billion yen. We are aiming at the consolidated sales of 460 billion yen and operating profit of 800 billion yen in 2012, as stated in new mid-term business plan "Sunrise 2012".
Additional information is available on the Internet at http://www.chugai-pharm.co.jp/.

Name: Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
Address of head office: 2-1-1 Nihonbashi-Muromachi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Foundation: 1925
Established: 1943
Capital: JPY 72,967,000,000 (As of December 31, 2008)
Representative: Osamu Nagayama, President and CEO
Home Page: http://www.chugai-pharm.co.jp/

Inquiries

BioComber Co., Ltd.
President and CEO
Jun Yamada
TEL: 03-5319-2860
FAX: 03-5319-2960
E-Mail: junyamada@biocomber.co.jp

Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
Corporate Communications Dept.
Corporate Communications Group
TEL: 03-3273-0881
 FAX: 03-3281-6607
E-Mail: pr@chugai-pharm.co.jp

Reference

About PURESYSTEM^®
PURESYSTEM^® (Protein Synthesis Using Recombinant Elements System) is the world's first reconstituted cell-free protein synthesis technology developed by the Ueda Group of the University of Tokyo. (US patent: No. 7,118,883; EU patent: No. 1319074; Japanese patent: No. 4061043).