March 16, 2006

ASKA Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited

License Agreement for Tavocept™ in Japan

Tokyo/Osaka, Japan, March 16, 2006 --- ASKA Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. ("ASKA", Tokyo, Japan) and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited ("Takeda", Osaka, Japan) announced today that both parties, KI Pharmaceuticals, Inc.(*) ("KI Pharma", Tokyo, Japan) and BioNumerik Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (San Antonio, Texas, "BioNumerik") have entered into a license agreement for Tavocept™(generic name: dimesna) in Japan.Tavocept™ is a chemoprotective agent originated and developed by BioNumerik.

Under the agreement, an exclusive right to market Tavocept™ in Japan following regulatory approval is granted to Takeda from KI Pharma. Effective November 2004, BioNumerik and Takeda entered into a license and development alliance agreement under which BioNumerik granted Takeda the exclusive right to market Tavocept™ in the U.S. and Canada.

Takeda will pay KI Pharma, ASKA and BioNumerik an upfront cash payment, certain development and commercial sales milestone payments, and a royalty from product sales in Japan. In addition, Takeda will bear the costs related to development of Tavocept™ which will be continuously conducted by ASKA, and KI Pharma has retained the right to co-promote Tavocept™ in Japan.

Tavocept™ is being developed as a chemotherapy supportive care drug to prevent or mitigate the incidence, severity and duration of peripheral nerve damage that is known to be associated with certain commonly used classes of chemotherapy drugs, such as taxane and platinum agents. Tavocept™ is currently in Phase 3 clinical development for breast cancer (U.S. and Japan) and non-small-cell lung cancer (Japan and Europe).

(*) KI Pharma is a joint venture between ASKA and BioNumerik

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[About ASKA]

ASKA, located in Tokyo, Japan, is a research and development (R&D) oriented company, which contributes to the society by developing and providing innovative pharmaceutical products with concentrating its management resources to the specific therapeutic areas. Additional information about ASKA, is available through its corporate website,

[About Takeda]

Takeda, located in Osaka, Japan, is a research-based global company with its main focus on pharmaceuticals. As the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan and one of the global leaders of the industry, Takeda is committed to striving toward better health for individuals and progress in medicine by developing superior pharmaceutical products.

[About KI Pharma]

KI Pharma, located in Tokyo, Japan, is a joint venture owned by ASKA and BioNumerik aimed at developing a broad portfolio of new compounds to distribute and market in Japan.

[About BioNumerik]

BioNumerik, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is a pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel drugs for the treatment of patients with cancer. BioNumerik has two drug candidates in late-stage clinical development: Tavocept™ and BNP1350.

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