ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it has agreed with PRISM BioLab Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Midori-ku, Yokohama; Hiroyuki Kouji, President & CEO; hereinafter “PRISM”) to jointly promote the research and business development of a compound library, a collection of candidate pharmaceuticals based on PRISM’s intellectual property (hereinafter “PRISM Library”)*. The PRISM Library is expected to provide seeds for new drugs to satisfy unmet medical needs.

Many existing pharmaceuticals act on the surface of the cells causing diseases and produce side effects by affecting normal cells. PRISM has succeeded in developing compounds for controlling proteins in cells. The compounds directly modulate protein - protein interactions in cells and act on underlying causes of disease. They therefore have the potential to generate breakthrough pharmaceuticals for example to conquer intractable diseases.

Under the agreement, ITOCHU and PRISM will jointly commercialize the PRISM Library, a collection of thousands, or tens of thousands, of compounds. PRISM is going to develop the PRISM Library, while ITOCHU will introduce the PRISM Library to pharmaceutical companies and research institutes and promote joint business development and alliances, calling on staff with expert knowledge in pharmaceuticals and its own business expertise. In this way, both companies will promote the development of new drugs for intractable diseases.

ITOCHU will continue to develop cutting-edge technologies, including biotechnology, and create new businesses through business investment and development.

• Compound library (PRISM Library)
  A compound library is a collection of compounds that may be seeds of new drugs. PRISM BioLab has developed small molecule compounds that mimic part of the secondary structure of protein (peptide unit) and call a collection of thousands, or tens of thousands, of compounds the PRISM Library as the intellectual property of PRISM. The library is a breakthrough library that targets the constituents of protein, which were not previously a focus, and which may lead to the creation of effective pharmaceuticals that will have new action mechanisms.

Profile of PRISM BioLab

PRISM BioLab has generated the curative PRI-724, which may cure cancer completely, as the first shot from the PRISM Library, which the company developed using its unique production technology. PRISM BioLab is presently carrying out clinical development of PRI-724. PRISM BioLab is continuing research and development with the aim of satisfying unmet medical needs for which there are no good pharmaceticals, using the PRISM Library.

Corporate name	PRISM BioLab Co., Ltd.
Representative	Hiroyuki Kouji
Address	Tokyo Institute of Technology Venture Plaza, 4259-3 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama
Established	November 2, 2007
URL	http://prismbiolab.com/index.html