BioWa, Inc. Begins Phase 1 Clinical Trial in Asthma

BioWa, Inc. Begins Phase 1 Clinical Trial in Asthma

October 30, 2006

    PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 30 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- BioWa,
Inc. announced today that it is beginning its Phase 1
clinical trial to evaluate the safety and tolerability of
BIW-8405, BioWa's anti-IL-5 receptor monoclonal antibody
(Mab). The Mab is being developed for the treatment of
asthma.

    "The commencement of the BIW-8405 clinical studies
is a significant step for BioWa's technology platform,
demonstrating our commitment to building a pipeline of
Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity (ADCC) enhanced
therapeutic products, positioning BioWa as a key player in
asthma therapeutics," said Dr. Nobuo Hanai, President
and CEO of BioWa, Inc.  "We believe that ADCC
enhancement of antibodies will overcome many existing
problems of antibody therapeutics today.  We are pursuing
the discovery and development of high value proprietary
therapeutic products through the use of POTELLIGENT(TM)
Technology."

    "Moving forward with our clinical program for
BIW-8405 is an exciting step for BioWa, especially since
this is the first Mab of the BioWa pipeline to enter human
trials," said George L. Spitalny, Ph.D., BioWa's
Senior Vice President of Research and Development. 

    About BIW-8405

    The IL-5 receptor is expressed predominantly on the
surface of a class of white blood cells known as
eosinophils.  These are one of several types of white blood
cells that act to combat infection. However, in a more
negative action, eosinophils have been implicated as the
major cause of problems in the lung associated with various
forms of asthma.  BIW-8405 is being developed to reverse the
debilitating effects of asthma by acting to eliminate
eosinophils that accumulate locally in the lung.  

    About Asthma

    The overall market for BIW-8405 could potentially gross
over $500M worldwide peak sales.  The number of patients
affected by asthma is growing significantly.  The asthma
market is predicted to increase from the current $12B to
over $19B worldwide by the year 2009.

    About POTELLIGENT(TM) Technology
 
    ADCC activity is an important function of the human
immune system, whereby immune cells can kill target cells,
e.g. cancer cells.  Several anti-cancer therapeutic
antibodies that are on the market today have ADCC activity
as one of their mechanisms for the killing of tumor cells.
Enhancement of this activity is one promising approach in
the next generation of antibody technologies. 

    POTELLIGENT(TM) technology involves the reduction of
the amount of fucose in the carbohydrate structure of an
antibody using a proprietary fucosyltransferase-knockout
CHO cell line as a production cell.  Research shows that
POTELLIGENT(TM) technology significantly enhances ADCC
activity of an antibody in vitro, thereby increasing the
potential for improved activity in vivo. 

    About BioWa, Inc.

    BioWa is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kyowa Hakko Kogyo
Co., Ltd., Japan's leading pharmaceutical and largest
biotech company, and is the exclusive worldwide licensor of
POTELLIGENT(TM) technology, which creates high ADCC
monoclonal antibodies.  Currently, BioWa is developing ADCC
enhanced monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics to fight
cancer and other life-threatening and debilitating diseases
and both BioWa and Kyowa have POTELLIGENT(TM) antibody
products in various clinical stages.  BioWa creates and
develops enhanced ADCC antibodies for itself and others,
offering a full range of antibody discovery and development
capabilities.  For more information about BioWa, visit its
web site at http://www.biowa.com .

    POTELLIGENT(TM) is the trademark of Kyowa Hakko Kogyo
Co., Ltd.  All rights are reserved.

    For more information, please contact:
 
     Martina Molsbergen
     Vice President, Business Development
     BioWa, Inc. 
     Tel: [phone] x7506

SOURCE  BioWa, Inc.