Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. announced that company would participate in ''The Twenty-second Century Medical Center'' project being planned by the University of Tokyo Hospital ('UOTH').

''The Twenty-second Century Medical Center'' planned by UOTH is a medical center currently scheduled to be established in 2006 as a true representative of its business-academia collaboration for the purpose of further pursuing its original nature as a national university hospital to meet the public interest and good as well as seeking and realizing its economic independence as a business entity after becoming a National University Corporation.

Having bone and joint diseases as one of the strategically targeted therapeutic areas, Chugai currently markets high molecular weight hyaluronic acid, a treatment for joint pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis, and develops ''MRA'', a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Chugai also has put its experience and the results of the research for cartilage metabolism into investigation of the risk factors for the onset of symptoms in osteoarthritis. With intention to dramatically develop these efforts to a joint business-academia project of great social significance, Chugai has made a decision to set up 'The Clinical Research for Joint Disorders' in ''The Twenty-second Century Medical Center'' in March 2005.

'The Clinical Research for Joint Disorders' aims to identify risk factors for arthritic disorders, close in on the molecular backgrounds, and identify target molecules for therapies. The specific research subjects shall include i) establishment of the largest ever database unmatched by those seen in any of the past clinical researches on arthritic disorders by collecting lifestyle data, environmental factors and genome information from arthritic disease patients, ii) unraveling from the database of the risk factors for arthritic disorders based on statistical procedures as well as determining the characteristics of the disease by combining the collected information, and iii) analysis of current therapies, particularly to assess both the benefits and efficacy of the high molecular weight hyaluronic acid together with investigation of the possible therapies of choice relevant to the identified characteristics of the diseases found from aforementioned efforts.

Chugai is confident that its participation in the UOTH ''The Twenty-second Century Medical Center'' project will form the first step to realize ''tailor-made'' therapies based on each individual's data, in the bone and joint diseases area.