TOKYO -- Fujirebio Holdings, Inc. (President & CEO: Goki Ishikawa; Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo), a wholly-owned subsidiary of H.U. Group Holdings, Inc. (Chairman, President and Group CEO: Shigekazu Takeuchi; Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo), and Eisai Co., Ltd. (Representative Corporate Officer and CEO: Haruo Naito; Head Office: Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo; hereinafter “Eisai”) announced today that they have entered into a memorandum of understanding for the joint research and social implementation of novel blood-based biomarkers in the field of neurodegenerative diseases.

Fujirebio and Eisai have been conducting joint research on cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers related to Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

The two companies have agreed to move forward with their partnership based on the shared understanding that the development and commercialization of diagnostic methods for neurodegenerative diseases can be accelerated by integrating the long-standing respective expertise of Fujirebio, which has experience in the research and development of test reagents in the neurodegenerative disease field, and Eisai, which has been engaged in the research and development of therapeutics in the field of dementia. The partners plan to explore a wide range of possibilities for the collaboration, including the clinical implementation of diagnostic reagents for plasma phosphorylated tau 217 protein (p-Tau217), the research and development of simple diagnostic methods using novel blood-based biomarkers and the development and commercialization of in vitro diagnostics.

Through this non-exclusive partnership, Fujirebio and Eisai will establish diagnostic technologies for various neurodegenerative diseases with high unmet medical needs, and accelerate the expansion of these technologies globally to establish an environment where appropriate treatments can be selected and provided, thereby contributing to improvement in the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.