Kissei Licensed Development and Sales Rights in Japan of KGTs, Novel Diabetic Medicines, to GlaxoSmithKline

Kissei Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (President and CEO: Mutsuo Kanzawa, hereinafter referred to as "Kissei") is pleased to announce that it recently concluded an agreement with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK; Head Office: England, hereinafter referred to as "GSK") on the KGT compounds, which are a group of selective SGLT-2 inhibitors, discovered and developed by Kissei to grant exclusive development and sales right in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China

For KGT, Kissei previously concluded a license agreement with GSK to grant exclusive development and sales rights in Europe, the US and other countries in October 2002, therefore this recent agreement will bring GSK the exclusive right to develop and sell the KGT compounds throughout the world. Following this agreement, Kissei will receive an initial payment for the contract from GSK as well as milestone payments in accordance with the stage of development, and royalties that accompany the product sales.

Kissei regards Metabolism & Endocrinology including diabetic medicine as one of our major new drug R&D areas. Kissei launched a diabetic medicine Glufast in 2004 and has been co-marketing in tandem with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. In order to focus on sales expansion of Glufast in Japan, Kissei have also decided to hand over domestic clinical development and marketing right of the KGT compounds to GSK.


・ The KGT compounds were discovered and developed during the course of Kissei's evaluation of potential antidiabetic drugs. They are oral anti-diabetic compounds that suppress the reabsorption of glucose by selectively inhibiting SGLT-2, a glucose transporter in the kidneys, and promote excretion of excess glucose in the urine, thereby reducing the blood glucose levels. The KGT compounds help eliminate glucose from the body unlike the currently available anti-diabetic therapies. This novel mechanism of action has the potential to become and important new therapy to assist in the treatment of Type II Diabetes. In addition, KGT compounds may have a role as novel anti-obesity agents due to their mechanism of action.

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Overview of GlaxoSmithKline:
Head office: London, England
Established: December 2000
Chief Executive Officer: Andrew Witty
Employees: 100,000 people worldwide　
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