Kowa Company, Ltd. Grants Abbott Exclusive Rights to Market Pitavastatin Calcium, a Lipid-lowering Drug, in Australia and New Zealand

WOKINGHAM, England, June 28, 2010 - Following an enthusiastic expansion programme into new markets, Kowa
Company, Ltd. (President: Yoshihiro Miwa), headquartered in Nagoya, Japan,
has granted Abbott, headquartered in Illinois, USA the exclusive license to
distribute and market pitavastatin calcium (brand name Livalo), a
lipid-lowering drug, in Australia and New Zealand. This agreement means that
pitavastatin will now be marketed in five continents.

Abbott is a global, broad-based health care company devoted to the
discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceuticals and
medical products, including nutritionals, devices and diagnostics. Abbott
will apply for regulatory approvals to market pitavastatin in Australia and
New Zealand and will exclusively distribute the drug in these countries.

Kowa has been granted exclusive rights by Nissan Chemical Industries,
Ltd. to develop and distribute pitavastatin around the world except in Japan
and Korea. Through Kowa's expansion programme partnerships in a number of
regions, have been formed with a companies such as Eli Lilly and Recordati.

Bob Ireland, Vice President of Kowa in the EU comments, "This exciting
expansion is being made possible through the relationships developed with our
partners that now reach five continents. In Europe working with Recordati has
proven a great strategy for expanding our EU presence."

About pitavastatin

Pitavastatin (a statin) is a fully synthetic and highly potent inhibitor
of HMG-CoA reductase used for primary hypercholesterolaemia and combined
dyslipidaemia. Pitavastatin has a unique cyclopropyl group on the base
structure common to the statin class. Since its 2003 launch in Japan,
pitavastatin has accumulated millions of patient-years of exposure. Many of
these patients have comorbidities and are taking multiple medications. Kowa
received FDA approval of pitavastatin (LIVALO(R)) for the treatment of
primary hypercholesterolaemia and combined dyslipidaemia in August 2009 and
it will be launched in the U.S. in June 2010. Additionally, Kowa filed in
Europe in August 2008 using the decentralised authorisation procedure and is
due to receive a regulatory approval in mid 2010. In much of Europe,
pitavastatin will be marketed by Recordati. Pitavastatin will be available in
three dosage strengths (1 mg, 2 mg and 4 mg).

Global business in pitavastatin

Kowa has dedicated itself enthusiastically to the R&D and
commercialization of pharmaceutical products including pitavastatin as a
global corporation.

    Country/area Current status  Launched (or            Distributors
                                 expected)
    Japan        Launched        September 2003        Kowa Soyaku Co., Ltd,
                                                  Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd.*1
    Korea        Launched        July 2005      Choongwae Pharma Corporation
    Thailand     Launched        January 2008             BioPharma Chemical
    China        Launched        July 2009                                *2
    USA          Approved        2010 2Q                                  *3
    EU           Submitted       2010                                     *4
    Canada       Submitted       2011                                 Abbott
    Taiwan       Submitted       2011          Tai Tien Pharmaceuticals Co.,
                                                     Ltd. (Tanabe Mitsubishi
                                                                 Pharma Co.)
    Middle East/ Preparing for   2011
    North Africa submission                                    Algorithm SAL
    Latin        Preparing for 2011
    America      submission                                        Eli Lilly
    Indonesia    Preparing for 2012                         Tanabe Indonesia
                 submission                   (Tanabe Mitsubishi Pharma Co.)
    Australia/   Preparing for 2012
    New Zealand  submission                                           Abbott

*1. The annual sales of Livalo tablets in Japan reached 41
billion yen in 2009.

*2 Kowa (Shanghai) Pharma Consulting. Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Kowa, is obtaining and providing information to physicians and
hospitals in China to ensure proper use of pitavastatin.

*3 Co-promotional activities in the United States will be
conducted by Kowa. Pharmaceutical America, Inc. (headquarters in Alabama), a
distributor owned by Kowa, and Eli Lilly.

*4 In Europe, pitavastatin will be distributed by Kowa
Pharmaceutical Europe Co., Ltd. (Headquarters in Wokingham, UK), a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Kowa, and Recordati (Headquarters in Milan,
Italy), a partner distributor.

About Kowa

Kowa Company, Ltd. (KCL) is a privately held multinational
company headquartered in Nagoya, Japan. Established in 1894, KCL is actively
engaged in various manufacturing and commercial activities in the fields of
pharmaceutical, life science, information technology, textiles, machinery and
various consumer products. KCL's pharmaceutical division was founded in 1946,
and is focused on cardiovascular therapeutics, with sales of the company's
flagship product, LIVALO, totaling $440 million (14% market share) in Japan
during the last fiscal year and expected to exceed $600 million in the near
future.

Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. (KPA) is a specialty pharmaceutical
company focused primarily in the area of cardiometabolic therapeutics. The
company, started in 2001 as ProEthic Pharmaceuticals, Inc., was acquired by
KCL in September of 2008. A privately held company, KPA focuses its efforts
on the acquisition, development, licensing and marketing of pharmaceutical
products. Its lead product, LIPOFEN(R) (fenofibrate capsules), is indicated
as adjunctive therapy to diet to reduce elevated TG and to increase HDL-C in
adult patients with primary hypercholesterolemia or mixed dyslipidemia.

Kowa Research Europe, Ltd. (KRE), established in 1999 in the United
Kingdom, is responsible for European clinical trials for Kowa's strategic
global pharmaceutical development.

About Abbott

    Company name                   Abbott
    Established in                 1888
    Chairman and CEO               Miles D. White
    Headquarters                   Abbott Park, Illinois
    Employees                      About 83,000 worldwide
    2009 Revenue                   $30.8 billion USD
    Abbott products marketed       More than 130
    in                             countries

About Recordati

Recordati, established in 1926, is a European pharmaceutical group,
listed on the Italian Stock Exchange (Reuters RECI.MI, Bloomberg REC IM, ISIN
IT 0003828271),with a total staff of over 2,950, dedicated to the research,
development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceuticals. It has
headquarters in Milan, Italy, operations in the main European countries, and
a growing presence in the new markets of Central and Eastern Europe. A
European field force of over 1,450 medical representatives promotes a wide
range of innovative pharmaceuticals, both proprietary and under license, in a
number of therapeutic areas including a specialized business dedicated to
treatments for rare diseases. Recordati's current and growing coverage of the
European pharmaceutical market makes it a partner of choice for new product
licenses from companies which do not have European marketing organizations.

Recordati is committed to the research and development of new drug
entities within the cardiovascular and urogenital therapeutic areas and of
treatments for rare diseases. Consolidated revenue for 2008 was EUR689.6
million, operating income was EUR144.7 million and net income was EUR100.4
million.

For more information about Recordati please visit
www.recordati.com

For further information please contact: Bob Ireland, bireland at kowa.co.uk, Office Tel: +44(0)118-944-3804, Mobile: +44(0)7796-952845