25th May 2005, Basel, Switzerland New data reported in over 90 abstracts presented at the American Transplant Congress in Seattle show that liver transplant patients taking the immunosuppressant CellCept are gaining the same positive benefits already demonstrated in kidney transplant patients. This is good news for patients as the demand for liver transplants is increasing, with many of the cases directly resulting from chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

Benefits seen with CellCept include:

• Reduced risk of acute rejection, especially in patients infected with HCV
  • graft rejection is of particularly high risk in HCV patients and is associated with increased morbidity and decreased patient and graft survival (Abstract 928)

• Safe and effective steroid-free regimens for HCV patients
  • steroids are known to have a negative impact on the progression of HCV, which can result in liver fibrosis (Abstract 475)

• Optimal kidney function
  • CellCept taken with a low dose of tacrolimus showed a trend towards improved kidney function (Abstract 1240). CellCept is proven to promote excellent kidney function early after kidney transplantation in renal patients taking tacrolimus(1)

• Less liver fibrosis
  • recipients taking CellCept-based regimens showed a significant reduction in the inflammation and structural changes that can lead to liver failure (Abstract 1446)

• No increased risk of malignancy
  • the addition of CellCept to maintenance immunosuppression that includes tacrolimus and corticosteroids did not increase the risk of death due to malignant complications (Abstract 930). This confirms previous data as seen in kidney transplant recipients(2)

"It's really exciting to see liver transplant recipients benefiting from CellCept in the same way as kidney transplant patients.
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Contact: Vicky Singlehurst
vicky.singlehurst@ketchum.com
+44-207-611-3523
Ketchum
25-May-2005

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