Boston Therapeutics, Inc., a leading developer of complex carbohydrates to treat diabetes and inflammatory diseases, and Advance Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. (APC), via its subsidiary Sugardown Company Ltd.(SDCL) of Hong Kong, have agreed to expand their licensing and marketing agreement for Boston Therapeutics' sugardown to include Japan. The territory expansion comes as a result of the continued regulatory filings and marketing clearance authorizations that are being granted as APC continues its market registration expansion.

APC has also received a signed certificate from the Department of Health to initiate a clinical trial at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) evaluating sugardown in subjects with pre-diabetes. The clinical trial is expected to start this month. APC also will collaborate with Boston Therapeutics who signed an agreement with the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston to be the lead clinical site of a Phase II study of BTI-320.

Under the terms of the original agreement, SDCL can market sugardown in China, Hong Kong and Macau. In 2014, the agreement was expanded to include Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Myanmar, Indonesia, Laos, Brunei and Cambodia. APC already has been granted marketing approval in Singapore, Macau, and Korea and Hong Kong as well. The mainland China registration will enter the clinical testing phase this year with a projected approval tentatively set for 2016.