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AGILECT(R) Reduced Tremor and Severity of "Off" Time

Positive Data Presented at European Federation of Neurological Societies Annual Meeting

According to two separate posters presented this week, moderate to advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) patients who added AGILECT® (rasagiline mesylate) to their levodopa therapy experienced a reduction in tremor and, during "off" time, improved motor function. "Off" time refers to periods of time when Parkinson's symptoms are not adequately controlled.

"Both of these sets of data add to the body of evidence that AGILECT® will be an important new treatment option for people living with PD," said Olivier Rascol, M.D., Ph.D., professor of pharmacology, University of Toulouse School of Medicine, Toulouse, France, and lead author of the poster detailing the analysis of tremor data and a contributing author of the severity of "off" time poster. "These data demonstrated that AGILECT® improved a common symptom and motor complications of moderate to advanced PD -- tremor severity and 'off' time."

Additionally, other data have demonstrated a reduction of "off" time and improved patient performance in both the "on" and "off" states in patients using AGILECT®.

The findings from these analyses of the LARGO trial data were presented this week at the European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS) annual meeting. LARGO stands for "Lasting effect in Adjunct therapy with Rasagiline Given Once daily." The LARGO trial, conducted in Europe, Israel and Argentina, compared the effects of once-daily AGILECT® (1 mg) or entacapone (200 mg with each dose of levodopa) or placebo added to optimized levodopa and other concomitant PD therapy in PD patients experiencing significant daily motor fluctuations. In addition to optimized levodopa therapy, approximately 60 percent of patients in this study were also taking a dopamine agonist.

A post-hoc analysis evaluated the impact of AGILECT® (rasagiline mesylate) on tremor -- a common PD symptom. Overall, patients who used AGILECT® experienced a significant reduction in tremor, using the tremor subscale score of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). The UPDRS includes measures such as a patient's ability to perform simple motor tasks and activities of daily living. Furthermore, in the subgroup of patients with severe tremor, those taking AGILECT® significantly improved by 4.18 points, from baseline (p=0.022) versus 2.16 points for placebo. Patients using entacapone in addition to levodopa experienced comparable improvements.

In the severity of "off" time substudy presented at EFNS, patients who used AGILECT® experienced a significant reduction (improvement) in their mean score on the motor subscale of the UPDRS in the "off" state of 4.38 units (p=0.013) compared to 1.95 (p=0.139) units with entacapone. Placebo increased the motor subscale score by 1.27 units, reflecting a worsening of severity of "off' time. The motor subscale measures a patient's motor functioning during periods of "off" time when levodopa is not working for these patients. The data show that in the "off" state, rasagiline provided significant improvement of PD motor symptoms, whereas entacapone did not.

These findings suggest a continuous effect of AGILECT® throughout the day and night -- of particular importance to PD patients receiving levodopa who suffer from significant daily motor fluctuations, one of the more troubling complications of disease progression and prolonged levodopa therapy.

Patients who used AGILECT® experienced side effects similar to those of patients using placebo. The only adverse events more common with rasagiline than with placebo (at least 2 percent difference) was postural hypotension (dizziness upon standing).

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the brain. Symptoms can include tremor, stiffness, slowness of movement and impaired balance. An estimated one million Americans have the disease, which usually affects people over the age of 50.

AGILECT® (rasagiline mesylate) is a novel, potent, second-generation, selective, irreversible monoamine oxidase type-B (MAO-B) inhibitor that blocks the breakdown of dopamine, a substance in the brain needed to facilitate movement. A new drug application for AGILECT® for the treatment of PD was submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Sept. 5, 2003. Indications are being sought for once-daily AGILECT® as a monotherapy in early PD and as an adjunct to levodopa in moderate to advanced disease.

Teva Neuroscience, Inc. and Eisai Inc. will co-promote AGILECT® in the United States, once approved by the FDA, as part of a long-term strategic alliance between Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Eisai Co., Ltd. Teva and H. Lundbeck A/S will co-promote the product in Europe, once approved there.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. , headquartered in Israel, is among the top 25 pharmaceutical companies and among the largest generic pharmaceutical companies in the world. The company develops, manufactures and markets generic and innovative human pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. Close to 90 percent of Teva's sales are in North America and Europe. Teva's innovative R&D focuses on developing novel drugs for diseases of the central nervous system.

Teva Neuroscience, Inc. is a subsidiary of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Eisai Inc. is a U.S. pharmaceutical subsidiary of Eisai Co., Ltd., a research-based human health care (hhc) company that discovers, develops and markets products in more than 30 countries. Established in 1995, Eisai Inc. began marketing its first product in the United States in 1997 and has rapidly grown to become an integrated pharmaceutical business with more than $1.7 billion in sales for fiscal year 2003 (year ending March 31, 2004). Eisai focuses its efforts in four therapeutic areas: neurology, gastrointestinal disorders, oncology and acute care.

The development of rasagiline is part of a long-term alliance for co-development in Parkinson's disease and European marketing between Teva and H. Lundbeck A/S. Rasagiline was developed cooperatively by Teva and the Technion -- Israel Institute of Technology.

Teva submitted an application to market rasagiline as a treatment for PD with the European Agency for Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA) on Oct. 10, 2003. Rasagiline was also submitted for review in Canada Sept. 24, 2003, where, upon approval, it will be marketed by Teva Neuroscience, Inc.

AGILECT® (rasagiline mesylate) is registered trademark of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd.

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