M´s Science Corporation Initiated European Phase 2 Study in Stroke Recovery



    M´s Science Corporation (MSC), a clinical stage discovery and
    development company announced today that it initiated a Phase 2 study
    in Europe with its lead product SA4503 for treatment of stroke.
    Earlier this year, MSC announced the initiation of a Phase 2 trial
    with SA4503 for the treatment of major depression.

    This latest Phase 2 trial is an international, multi-center,
    double-blind and placebo-controlled study of SA4503 in patients with
    stroke with a planned enrollment of approximately 60 patients. The
    primary objective of the study is to evaluate safety of SA4503 in this
    patient population.

    SA4503 is a potent and selective agonist of the sigma-1 receptor.
    Activation of this receptor is associated with enhancement of recovery
    in experimental models of stroke. SA4503 induces neuroregeneration and
    facilitates the recovery of damaged tissues from stress or
    ischemia-induced insults. This novel mechanism of action allows for a
    large time-window of treatment initiation in patients up to 60 hours
    after occurrence of stroke. In contrast, thrombolytic treatment must
    be applied within 3 hours after stroke, which limits the application
    of this therapy to less than 10% of all stroke patients. Therefore,
    SA4503 may address a significant medical need for effective stroke
    therapy with an expanded time-window of treatment initiation.
    Consequently, a larger proportion of stroke patients may potentially
    benefit from a therapy with SA4503.

    "The role of the sigma-1 receptor in enhancing recovery from
    stroke was discovered by a functional genomics approach. SA4503 is
    among the first therapies acting on the central nervous system that
    resulted from the application of this innovative technology,"
    commented Dr. Roman Urfer, Senior Vice President International
    Development.

    "Stroke poses significant therapeutic challenges. SA4503 with its
    unique and unexploited mechanism has the potential to address the
    limitations of today´s stroke therapies," said Dr. Shiro Mita,
    Chairman and CEO.

    "This trial marks an important milestone in the development of
    SA4503. Our two on-going Phase 2 trials document our focused clinical
    development with this innovative compound. Moreover, our lead in the
    sigma-1 receptor field allows us to aggressively pursue this novel
    mechanism of action in additional indications," commented Mr. Akihiko
    Shimauchi, President and COO.

    About M´s Science Corporation

    M´s Science (MSC) is a privately held biopharmaceutical company
    dedicated to the discovery and development of treatments of central
    nervous system (CNS) disorders and cancer. MSC currently develops two
    clinical stage products, SA4503 and HF10.

    SA4503 is a potent and selective agonist of the sigma-1 receptor.
    MSC will initially focus its clinical development of SA4503 on the
    treatment of major depression and on the enhancement of recovery from
    stroke.

    HF10 is a natural isolate of an attenuated herpes simplex virus
    and possesses strong tumor killing ability. MSC initially develops
    HF10 for the treatment of head & neck cancer and intends to expand its
    application to other cancers.