Tokyo, June 5, 2013 - Zeria Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Tokyo: 4559; “Zeria”) and Astellas Pharma Inc. (Tokyo: 4503; “Astellas”) announced today that Acofide® Tablets 100mg (nonproprietary name: acotiamide hydrochloride hydrate; “Acofide”; Zeria’s development code: “Z-338”; Astellas’s development code: “YM443”) for the treatment of functional dyspepsia (FD) will be launched on June 6, 2013.
Acofide, the world first FD treatment which demonstrated efficacy in the patients with FD diagnosed by the Rome III, the international diagnostic criteria for functional gastrointestinal diseases, will be launched in Japan ahead of the rest of the world.
Acotiamide hydrochloride hydrate is a new chemical entity originated by Zeria, and inhibits peripheral acetylcholinesterase activities. Acetylcholine is an important neurotransmitter to regulate gastrointestinal motility, and through the inhibition of degradation of acetylcholine, Acofide improves the impaired gastric motility and delayed gastric emptying, and consequently the subjective symptoms of FD such as postprandial fullness, upper abdominal bloating, and early satiation.
Also, since Acofide will be the first treatment with FD indication, Zeria and Astellas will co-promote Acofide for the sake of the increase of disease awareness of FD, the prompt market penetration, and the maximization of product potential.
We believe that Acofide will contribute to alleviate the subjective symptoms and improve QOL of patients with FD.
Upon the launch of Acofide, Zeria and Astellas do not revise their current fiscal year (from April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014) financial forecasts, respectively.
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