TOKYO and CAMBRIDGE, England, November 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sosei Group Corporation ("Sosei"; TSE Mothers Index: 4565), the biopharmaceutical company, today announced that it has out-licensed its IP and Know How relating to the RS(+) isomer of mefloquine to Treague Ltd. ("Treague"), a Cambridge, UK based pharma company, for the treatment and prophylaxis of malaria.

Mefloquine is a highly efficacious anti-malarial drug that is approved in its racemic form for both treatment (in combination with artesunate) and prophylaxis (as monotherapy) of malaria. Though its efficacy and long half-life make racemic mefloquine a particularly attractive anti-malarial drug, its clinical utility has been compromised by CNS side effects. However, it is hypothesised, based on the stereoselective nature of mefloquine's receptor binding that RS(+) mefloquine has the potential for substantially reduced CNS side effect liability. Treague is collaborating with Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), a Geneva-based not-for-profit organization dedicated to reducing the burden of malaria, to develop RS(+) mefloquine for the treatment of malaria in malaria endemic countries. In addition, Treague plans to develop RS(+) mefloquine for the prophylaxis of malaria for commercial sale.

Based on its cytokine modulatory activity, Sosei were developing RS(+) mefloquine as AD 452 for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. However, despite an excellent safety profile, clinical studies failed to demonstrate sufficient efficacy in this indication and the AD 452 programme was terminated in 2006.

"We are delighted to contribute to the development of a potentially safer and better tolerated anti-malarial," said Shinichi Tamura, CEO of Sosei.

Dr Robert Tansley, Treague's Development & Medical Director said, "By building on the pre-clinical and clinical work conducted by Sosei, we have the opportunity to rapidly develop an efficacious anti-malarial with potentially significant clinical advantages over existing treatment options."

About Sosei

Sosei Group is a leading international biopharmaceutical company with significant expertise in product discovery and development. It has established a reduced risk business model primarily upon identifying new uses for established drugs and exploiting its unique position within Japanese, European and North American pharmaceutical markets by acquiring compounds from, and bringing compounds into, Japan.

For further information about Sosei, please visit http://www.sosei.com

About Treague Ltd

Treague Ltd is a Cambridge, UK pharma company set up in 2007 to develop RS(+) mefloquine on a not-for-profit basis for the treatment of malaria and on a commercial basis for the prophylaxis of malaria.

For further information about Treague, please visit http://www.treague.com

SOURCE Sosei Group Corporation