Eisai Co., Ltd. and MSD K.K., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A., have announced that the two companies have commenced joint medical and marketing activities for tyrosine kinase inhibitor LENVIMA (generic name: lenvatinib mesylate) in Japan.

In March 2018, Eisai and Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A. (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada), through an affiliate, entered into a strategic collaboration for the worldwide co- development and co-commercialization of LENVIMA. Co-commercialization activities between Eisai, who has extensive real-world evidence for LENVIMA, and Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A., who has a strong commercial footprint and medical expertise that spans the globe, are in progress sequentially around the world, and commenced in the United States in June 2018. In Japan, Eisai and MSD will jointly work on medical activities such as the activities of Medical Science Liaisons (MSL), and provide information through the internet utilizing digital content. Meanwhile, information provision via Medical Representatives (MR) is scheduled to commence in January 2019, and collaboration on a call center for medicines between Eisai and MSD will commence in January or later.

Currently, LENVIMA has been approved as a treatment for refractory thyroid cancer in over 50 countries including the United States, Japan, in Europe and Asia, and as combination with everolimus as a second- line treatment for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in over 45 countries including the United States and in Europe. In addition, LENVIMA has been approved as a treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Japan, the United States, Europe, China and other countries. In Japan, approximately 4,500 HCC patients have been treated with LENVIMA since approval of the HCC indication in March 2018.

Eisai and MSD are striving to collaborate on providing information on LENVIMA in Japan starting with the HCC indication, and, will work to expedite the maximization of LENVIMA's contribution to patients with the hope to expand co-commercialization activities for potential future indications in Japan.