Press Release

November 15, 2006
Company:
EPS Co., Ltd.
Representative: Yan Hao, President and CEO(Code 4282, TSE First Section)
Contact:
Office of the President
81-3-5684-7826

EPS Advances Into South Korea:
Acquisition of Capital in a Local CRO Compnay- Further Expansion of Clinical Trial-Support Services Throughout Asia EPS Co., Ltd (EPS), Tokyo is pleased to announce that it acquires capital in a local CRO, ADM Korea Inc.
(ADM), Seoul, Republic of Korea, with a view to establishing a new business base in South Korea
following China and Singapore in sequence.
1.

Objectives

EPS has put continuous emphasis on reinforcing and expanding the capability to deliver its signature CRO
services in Asia. At the first onset, EPS launched its clinical trials-support services in China in 2001.
Now, EPS China Co., Ltd (EPS China), Shanghai has grown to achieve a dominant share in the Chinese
market. Later, penetration to Singapore in April 2003 followed; EPS has vigorously and steadily pursued
to enhance provision for multinational clinical investigations in Asia.
In recent years, for the sake of improving so-called “drug lag” situation derived from a time lag in theregulatory approvals for new medicines have asynchronously proceeded in each of the U.S. and Europe,and Japan, the industry has seen rising momentum of multinational clinical trials covering Asia to facilitate
drug development in Japan.
Reaching out to wider areas in Asia based on its fruitage in China, EPS is to conclude an exclusive contract
with ADM and without delay to begin its clinical support operation in South Korea. ADM is anunprecedented CRO principally involving a new-drug development business. It is notable that ADM hasalready earned exceeding practical accomplishments; ADM has undertaken local operation in South Korea
on multinational clinical studies sponsored by the Western pharmaceuticals and helped clients succeed in
obtaining NDA approvals from the local authority, KFDA. EPS is due to underwrite ADM’s allocation of
new shares to a third party until December 2006 and will have ADM as its equity method associatecompany.
In this fulfillment, EPS lines up the secure footholds in every four major countries of Asia, so that it
becomes able to offer its solid enhanced services to support drug investigation in a full array of Japan,
China, Singapore, and South Korea, which are bound to contribute as important pillars of clinical trials inthe coming age.
2.

About ADM Korea Inc.
Corporate Name:
Representative:
Address:
Capital：Execution Date:

ADM Korea Inc.
Seokmin Yoon (CEO, President)#1120, King’s Garden Bldg. 72 Naesu-Dong,
Jongro-Gu, Seoul 110-070, Korea
KRW 50,000,000.December, 2006 （Shareholders ratio : EPS 35%）

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Effects on Consolidated Results and Prospects for the Future

EPS, at this point has the perception that this matter should only cause a minor effect on consolidated
results for the current fiscal year ending September 2007. However, in a case of any implications beforecasted, EPS is to announce them on a timely basis as they are confirmed.
As for prospects for the future, EPS is currently in preparation to set up a central administrative sector for
strategic implementation and effective control of overseas operations, in addition to its business support ateach offshore base. In the meantime, through enriching clinical testing conducted in Japan and providing
support to multinational clinical studies situated in Asia, EPS remains committed to make tireless efforts in
the hope of that it be contributory to invigorate development of medicines in Japan.

Inquiries:

Hisao Imamura, Senior Manager
Takehiro Minami, Sub Manager
Office of the President
Phone : 81-3-5684-7826
FAX : 81-3-5684-0361
e-mail : ir@eps.co.jp

Terms and Descriptions:CRO:
Contract Research Organization
KFDA:
Korean Food and Drug Administration
NDA:
New-Drug Application
Drug lag: New drugs originally developed by the Western biopharmaceutical companies are approvedin the U.S. and Europe first and soon widely prescribed to sufferers in need throughout
these regions, but patients in the rest of the world including Japan are left behind inaccessing the latest medicines until the local authorities later approve those new drugs.
This time lag has become a serious social issue in Japan: without access to a drug available
elsewhere, seriously ill patients suffer or even die; otherwise as a last resort, they importthose locally-unapproved medicines from overseas on their own to survive.

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