 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| October 11, 2002 |
|
| Concerning Acquisition of Exclusive Right to Use A New Breast Cancer Biomarker and Test in Japan |
|
| Mitsubishi Kagaku Medical Inc. |
|
Mitsubishi Kagaku Medical Inc. (Head Office: Inashiki-gun, Ibaragi Prefecture; President: Yasuhiro Morinaka), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Ryuichi Tomizawa), has recently acquired the exclusive right in Japan to use a new breast cancer biomarker (NMP66) and its detection technology that Matritech Inc. (Head Office: Massachusetts, USA; President: Stephen D. Chubb), a US bio venture company, has owned.
About 30,000 breast cancer patients are reported in a year in Japan and it is ranked at the top number of disease among women cancers. As early diagnosis and treatment like for other cancers is essential for the management, the establishment of early diagnosis method is strongly desired.
Matritech has identified NMP66 protein that is a specific biomarker present in breast cancer tissue and detected at elevated levels in the blood of women with breast malignancy. Matritech identified it with its patented proteomics technology combined with the NMP technology that is licensed exclusively to Matritech from the Massachusetts Institute.
Through the process of identification of NMP66 protein and also the results of its initial evaluation at medical facilities in US and Europe, it is suggested that NMP 66 elevated in early stage of breast cancer including DCIS.
Meanwhile, although mammography for medical examination of breast cancer is introduced for the detection of breast cancer in Japan, there is an issue of patient pain and a limited number of medical facilities for checkup due to difficulty of analyzing the results.
Moreover, various test methods and diagnosis kits of tumor markers are used for diagnosis of breast cancer at clinical site, but while they have high sensitivity for metastatic cancers and cancers in late stage, it is said that they are not suitable for diagnosis of early stage of breast cancer.
Since there are not excellent tumor marker for early detection of breast cancer so far, NMP66 is expected to utilize in common practice in the field of medical examination of breast cancer.
| For further information, please contact |
| Public Relations and Investor Relations Dept., |
| Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation |
| Tel: [+81]-(0)3-3283-6274 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
