Milan, February 9th, 2006 - An olive fruit extract, which will help keep skin looking beautiful as well as healthy inside and out, has been studied jointly by the Italian company Indena and the Japanese Kanebo Cosmetics Inc.

Five years of co-research and close cooperation have brought about the development and commercialization of OPEXTAN^TM. "We are proud of our long-term collaboration with Kanebo Cosmetics. Both companies have shared their expertise to achieve the success of this novel ingredient", says Christian Artaria, Indena's Marketing Director.

The olive varieties were screened and selected by Indena, whose botanists pinpointed the best harvesting period and methods to ensure the highest levels of verbascoside and other polyphenols.  Indena also managed the process of industrialization, whilst the final efficacy trials were conducted by Kanebo Cosmetics. "Preclinical and clinical evidence of its free radical scavenging capacity was obtained successfully in our laboratories " - declared Dr. Takeshi Ikemoto, the Kanebo Research and Development Manager. "The link between skin dryness and blood glucose levels, also balanced by OPEXTAN^TM, was investigated together with Japanese researchers in the Tohoku University, Miyagi."

One of the most characteristic olive polyphenols, Verbascoside, has been used as the reference compound in the manufacture of OPEXTAN^TM. It exerts a free radical scavenging activity which has a direct impact on skin health, preventing oxidative damage associated with wrinkle formation, skin thinning and dehydration. Patents on the OPEXTAN^TM based composition activity have been filed jointly by Indena and Kanebo Cosmetics: they claim the activity of the novel composition on UV damage, wrinkle formation and hair tonic.

Indena will promote OPEXTAN^TM worldwide apart from in Japan, where it is already marketed under the newly launched cosmetic and supplement line "Bella Vita".

COMPANY PROFILE:
Indena is the world's leading company dedicated to the identification, development and production of active principles derived from plants, for use in the pharmaceutical, health food and cosmetics industries.  The key to Indena's success is its research, covering: the screening of medicinal plants for their pharmacological benefits; the identification of new active principles; and the development of extraction and purification systems at the cutting-edge of industrial application. Backed up by 85 years of botanical experience, the phyto-chemical research is carried out in Indena's own Settala Research Center, near Milan. Indena also co-operates with the world's most prestigious universities and private research institutions in the biological assessment of safety and effectiveness up to clinical phase I. The company, with around 800 employees, including 10% dedicated to full-time research, manages cultivation, manufacturing, and distribution operations in more than 40 countries throughout the world. The Company's experts communicate and interact constantly with the major international regulatory authorities such as WHO, EMEA, and ESCOP, and work with all the main pharmacopoeias.