November 15, 2001

Recently, after its new drug Sulbogin, an external treatment for wounds, obtained a patent in the U.S. and entered the clinical stages in Taiwan, Hedonist Biochemical Technologies made the announcement that its development of a new drug for the treatment of gout was a success. James Chen, general manager of Hedonist Biochemical, said that in order to shorten the time required for FDA approval the new drug would be launched on the market in the form of a health food supplement. The company estimates that in this manner, it will be able to accomplish the licensing of the drug by March 2002.

According to recent calculations, worldwide sales of medicine for the treatment of gout total at least US$1 billion - amounting to a huge number of people suffering from this illness. Unfortunately, many of the drugs currently in use have proven to be ineffective against gout, only serving to alleviate its symptoms. Patients have also reported concerns about the side effects of taking too many chemically produced drugs. For these reasons and more, Chen and his research team have developed a prescription for treating gout by using a Chinese herb-based medicine.

According to follow-up reports on the new drug, after testing it on gout patients, the symptoms of the disease have temporarily disappeared. Now, Chen said, further tests on animals will be carried out in Yang Ming Hospital and, by the end of the year, the company will submit its application to register the drug as a health food supplement with the Department of Health (DOH). However, to achieve the long-term goal of joining the international market with this product, Hedonist Biochemical will spend a year completing all of the tests required for the application to obtain a drug license.

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