NEWS RELEASESOLASIA AND EDITFORCE ENTER INTO JOINT R&D AGREEMENTTokyo and Fukuoka, December 26, 2019 - Solasia Pharma K.K. (TSE: 4597, Headquarters: Tokyo,President and CEO: Yoshihiro Arai, hereafter “Solasia”) and EditForce Inc. (Headquarters:Fukuoka, President and CEO: Takashi Ono, hereafter “EditForce”) announced today that thecompanies have entered into a joint R&D agreement to research and develop pharmaceuticaldrugs primarily in the field of oncology based on EditForce’s DNA/RNA editing technology.
Solasia and EditForce will design multiple projects (varying by the target disease, target genesequence, and mechanism of action) based on RNA editing mainly in the oncology field, andthrough these projects, develop drugs utilizing the pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) protein
platform technology*.
EditForce will grant Solasia a non-exclusive right to the intellectual property of its core technology
and an option to claim exclusive rights to use the above mentioned projects; Solasia in turn will
make an upfront payment as well as milestone payments based on the development progress ofeach project to EditForce. Solasia will have the option to exercise its exclusive rights when theapplicable projects reach the pre-clinical study phase.
Solasia specializes in the development and commercialization of pharmaceuticals that address
unmet medical needs primarily in the field of oncology. Solasia has already launched several
drugs, and it is renowned for its clinical development capabilities. EditForce, on the other hand,is a startup company with a unique, proprietary DNA/RNA editing technology (PPR protein
platform technology). Through collaborating with pharmaceutical companies, EditForce isworking on R&D toward application of its technology in drug development.
Drawing on each other’s expertise, Solasia and EditForce will jointly design and carry out R&Dof specific projects (varying by the target disease, target gene sequence, and mechanism ofaction) from the early R&D stage to clinical development. Through such joint efforts, the twocompanies agreed to work on enhancing each other’s drug discovery pipeline and improving
efficiency of the R&D process.
Yoshihiro Arai, President and CEO of Solasia, commented as follows:“EditForce has the globally leading and unique DNA/RNA editing technology, which is expected
to enable a novel approach to drug discovery, targeting areas of unmet medical needs, primarily
in the field of oncology. Solasia will continue to focus on in-licensing drug candidates that are in
the early to late clinical development phases. However, the number of new drug candidates islimited, and there is no guarantee that we will always be able to in-license drug candidates of ourchoice. Technology has made remarkably rapid strides in recent years, and drug discovery basedon these new technologies and findings is also taking place. We believe enhancing our chancesof in-licensing new drug candidates in the future, rather than focusing solely on those available
at present, is crucial for our long-term business growth; and hence, we have concluded the joint
R&D agreement with EditForce. Through our joint R&D scheme, where EditForce will be in1

charge of early stage R&D while Solasia leads clinical development of drug candidates that areexpected to demonstrate effectiveness in clinical settings, each company will be able to makethe best use of its respective strengths. In addition to increasing our chances of securing new
drug candidates, we expect to strengthen and improve the efficiency of drug discovery andclinical development processes.”
Takashi Ono, President and CEO of EditForce, commented as follows:“We have developed an innovative technology which we believe will contribute significantly to thedevelopment of pharmaceuticals. However, bringing a drug to market as a new product requires
numerous steps. We believe collaborating with Solasia, which has extensive expertise in theprocesses leading up to drug launches, especially in oncology clinical development will help
rapidly advance projects to the development stage; and hence, we have decided to enter into thejoint R&D collaboration. Based on the agreement, we will work with Solasia on developing drugs
with new modalities.”

About Solasia
Solasia is a specialty pharmaceutical company based in Asia, with a mission of "Better Medicine for a
Brighter Tomorrow". In order to address the unmet medical needs within the oncology area, we develop
innovative medicines to contribute to the patient's healthy living and to provide treatment options for thehealthcare providers.
For more information, please visit https://www.solasia.co.jp/en/
About EditForce
Launched in Kyushu University, EditForce is a startup with a proprietary DNA/RNA editing technology
known as PPR protein platform technology. With the vision of “New Tools Lead to a New World,” thecompany contributes its PPR technology to a wide range of bio-related industries including medical,chemical, and agriculture through offering a new DNA/RNA manipulating tool.
For more information, please visit https://www.editforce.co.jp/en/*Pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) protein platform technology
PPR is a protein that was discovered in plants, which regulates the gene expression by binding RNA orDNA in a sequence-specific manner. PPR proteins are also found in humans and yeasts, and they have
similar functions to those of plants. Dr. Takahiro Nakamura (associate professor, Kyushu University,and director of EditForce) and Dr. Yusuke Yagi (director of EditForce) focused on the PPR proteins andelucidated the recognition mode of RNA/DNA by PPR proteins. This elucidation paves the way to a newtechnology for the rational design of artificial PPR proteins targeted to specific RNA/DNA sequences.
Versatile DNA/RNA editing tools can be created by integrating the PPR protein with various enzymes.
For details, please see https://www.editforce.co.jp/en/ppr/

Contact
Solasia Pharma K.K.
Public Relations and Investor Relations
Tel: +81 3-5843-8045 (Tokyo)
E-mail: info@solasia.co.jp

EditForce Inc.
Research Planning Department
Tel: +81 92-802-4935 (Fukuoka)
E-mail: editforce-info@editforce.jp

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