The number of living kidney donors now outnumbers deceased donors in transplantation and is predicted to rise

VENICE (Italy) 22th September (PROTEXT) - Data presentedtoday at the 11th Congress of the European Society for OrganTransplantation in Venice, show that in the US the number ofliving donors now exceeds the number who donate following theirdeath, with the proportion of the total predicted to increase.

The data was announced at the start of the congress at amajor symposium sponsored by Fujisawa entitled Living DonorKidney Transplantation 2003: Looking to the Future, one of aseries of activities in a major global initiative sponsored byFujisawa, which aims to help the transplant communityeducate and raise awareness of the issues involved, and toencourage debate into all aspects of living donation.

Greater focus has been placed on living-donation of organs asthe number of people requiring a kidney transplant greatlyexceeds the number of donor organs available. Indeed, astransplantation has become more and more successful, the numbersand types of people who are now considered possible candidates tobenefit from a transplant has grown, and demand for donor organsis expected to continue to far exceed organ availability.

The latest data available (up to the end of 2001) show that52% of donors were living donors and that the number increased byan average of 12% each year in the previous five years, comparedwith 2% from deceased (cadaveric) donors. In contrast, during thesame period the number of patients on the cadaveric organ waitinglist increased by 11% per year.(1)

It is now common for partners, distant relatives and friendsto donate a kidney, as well as siblings, parents and children.This has been made possible due in part to the recent advances inimmunosuppressive therapy, including Fujisawa's Prograf(r)(tacrolimus).

Fujisawa is committed to supporting the transplant communityin addressing the continued medical, personal, and ethical issuesassociated with living donation, now that donation of organs froma broader range of altruistic donors has been made technicallyfeasible.

More information on living kidney donation can be found underwww.livekidney.com

Fujisawa GmbH is a subsidiary of Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co.,Ltd., based in Osaka, Japan. Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. isamong the world's top 30 pharmaceutical companies and employsover 8000 people in Japan, Europe, North America and Asia. Sinceits launch of Prograf(r) in Japan in 1993, the first in theworld, Fujisawa has become one of the world's leadingtransplant and immunosuppression companies. Fujisawa plans tomaintain its commitment to transplantation, and is dedicated bothto improving the results of solid-organ transplantation and toensuring the health and quality of life of patients. Prograf(r)is currently available in nearly 70 countries and forms thecenterpiece of Fujisawa's continuing growth. Additionalinformation on Fujisawa GmbH can be found on the Company's Website at www.fujisawaeurope.com.

References:

(1). 2002 Annual Report of the U.S. Scientific Registry ofTransplant Recipients and the Organ Procurement andTransplantation Network. www.optn.org/data/annualreport.asp

Marité Ode, Fujisawa GmbH, Munich, Germany, tel +49 8945442249 or fax +49 89 434129 or email media@fujisawa.de

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