RYE, NY, May 19, 2003 --- Approximately 350 medical doctors from around the world are scheduled to attend the 11th Annual International AHCC® (Active Hexose Correlated Compound) and GCP (Genistein Combined Polysaccharide) Research Associations Symposium July 26-27, 2003, in Sapporo, Japan. The AHCC Research Association and the GCP Research Association were established in the U.S. to promote clinical research of these functional foods and to educate healthcare professionals and scientists of their benefits. The focus of the Symposium is to discuss new AHCC and GCP research and developments over the past year.

Gerald Sonnenfeld, Ph.D., Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Immunology, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA, will be the keynote speaker of the Symposium talking about space flight, the immune system and resistance to infection. Dr. Sonnenfeld has been working in the area of space flight Immunology since 1975 and has been involved in three flight experiments using the Russian Biosatellite Bion, and eight experiments using the U.S. Space Shuttle. His latest study entitled, "Active Hexose Correlated Compound Enhances Resistance to Klebsiella pneumoniae Infection in Mice in the Hindlimb-Unloading Model of Space Flight Conditions,” published in the Journal of Applied Physiology will be presented at the Symposium.

“This is the first year a doctor from the U.S. will be giving the keynote presentation at the Symposium,” stated Fred Pescatore, M.D., M.P.H., of the Centers For Integrative and Complementary Medicine and medical director for the U.S. AHCC Research Association. “Dr. Sonnenfeld’s study with the National Space Biomedical Research Institute is promising and will garner immense attention in the industry as well as at the Symposium.”

Other presenters from the U.S. include: Fred Pescatore, M.D., M.P.H., scheduled to present “Clinical Experiences in Using AHCC”; Thomas Walshe, M.D., Harvard Medical School and Faulkner Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, scheduled to present “A proposed double-blind placebo-controlled trial of AHCC as adjunctive treatment in patients receiving standard immunotherapy for Hepatitis C”; and Dr. Zhinan Yin, Ph.D., Yale University, scheduled to present “Basic Animal Research on AHCC.” Dr. Debra Bemis, Ph.D., Department of Urology Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, is scheduled to present “Basic Research on GCP.”

For the second consecutive year, the Symposium will be co-sponsored by The Foundation for Basic Research of Oncology (the association authorized by the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare as an official foundation to execute and support basic research projects on cancer) and Amino Up Chemical Co., Ltd., headquartered in Sapporo, Japan. Last year, medical doctors attended the 10th Symposium from eight different countries including China, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Thailand, Mexico and the United States.

AHCC® is derived from a highly specialized manufacturing process developed in the mid-1980s that relies on the hybridization of several species of mushrooms cultivated in Japan. According to industry analysts in Japan, over 700 hospitals and medical clinics recommend AHCC to patients in that country as part of an immune support regimen. AHCC is the recipient of the NutrAward--Best New Product of 2002 from the Nutracon Executive Conference.

GCP is produced by a special soybean fermentation technique involving isoflavone extracts and medicinal mushrooms. GCP contains rich levels of isoflavone aglycones, especially Genistein, as well as polysaccharides from Basidiomycetes mushrooms. Isoflavone glycosides are transformed into aglycones using b-glucosidase-producing basidiomycetes via an innovative Japanese technology. GCP is well tolerated by the body with no known serious side effects.

The study on AHCC® titled “Active Hexose Correlated Compound Enhances Resistance to Klebsiella pneumoniae: Infection in Mice in the Hindlimb-Unloading Model of Space Flight Conditions,” was published in the April 11, 2003, issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology. Copies of the abstract can be found on http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/00259.2003v1.

Further details of the 11th Annual International AHCC® and GCP? Research Associations Symposium will be available as the event nears. For further information on the individual Research Associations visit http://www.AHCCresearch.com and http://www.GCPresearch.com. The Symposium is open to members of the media. If you are interested in attending or would like more press information, contact Tiia Sumera at 801.538.0777 ext.112 or tiias@imgbranding.com.