Sunstar Enters into Agreement with Joslin Diabetes Center, Affiliated with Harvard Medical School, to Implement an Educational Iniative on “Obesity, Diabetes, and Nutrition” and “Diabetes and Oral Care”

June 2, 2008 — In April 2008, Sunstar Inc. (Head Office: Takatsuki City, Osaka; Managing Director and President: Kazuo Hamada) and Joslin Diabetes Center (based in Boston, MA; President and CEO: Ranch C. Kimball), teamed up to launch an initiative aimed at educating dentists, physicians, and nutritionists about the link between diabetes and gum disease and other oral health issues, as well as the link between diabetes and nutrition.

The theme of the initiative is “Obesity, diabetes, and nutrition,” and “Diabetes and oral care,” and will include:

(1) To achieve the goals of the initiative, professional symposia will be executed as following manners; 　target: Physicians, dentists, nutritionists, nurses, pharmacists and others. Venues and dates (subject to change): Chicago, November 2008; Osaka, January 2009; Los Angeles, March 2009; Tokyo, April 2009; New York, May 2009; and Kyoto, date to be decided (three times in Japan, and three times in the U.S.)
(2) Holding seminars for Sunstar Group companies (twice each in Japan and the U.S.)
(3) Creation of educational tools using electronic media
(4) Creation of guidebooks for medical and dental clinicians, and for patients

Sunstar wishes to contribute to medicine and dentistry by working on these educational programs in collaboration with Joslin Diabetes Center, the world’s largest diabetes research organization.

“Traditionally, there has been little dialogue between the two disciplines,’’ said George L. King, M.D., Director of Research and Senior Vice President at Joslin Diabetes Center. “But when it comes to a person with diabetes, it is all one body,’’ he said. “It is likely that inflammation in the oral cavity, particularly the gums, can adversely impact blood glucose and exacerbate diabetes. It is also known that poor diabetes control can cause many complications, including increased risks of gum disease and loss of teeth.’’

At the same time, he noted, “I am enthusiastic about this initiative. We are at a new frontier of clinical care, which will bring about better health outcomes for patients. This will forge new areas for investigation and hopefully elevate the standard of clinical care.’

・Cooperation between Sunstar and Joslin Diabetes Center

November 2004:
An agreement was concluded between Sunstar and Joslin Diabetes Center to conduct joint research aimed at characterizing the effects of the Asian diet on preventing the development of diabetes.
January 2005:
Sunstar and Joslin paid attention to the fact that diseases one develops as one ages are correlated to the decline of the ability to remove oxides generated and accumulated in one’s body, and embarked on joint research in functional food that would help revitalize the body’s ability to remove such oxides.
April 2005:
Sunstar began cooperating with Joslin Diabetes Center in its Asian American Diabetes Initiative (AADI), and subsequently continued to do so each year afterward. The company entered the fourth year of cooperation in April 2008.
April 2008:
An agreement was concluded to provide education about the link between diabetes and gum disease and other oral health issues, as well as the link between diabetes and nutrition.

・Profiles

●About Joslin Diabetes Center
Joslin Diabetes Center is the world’s largest diabetes clinic, diabetes research center and provider of diabetes education. Joslin is dedicated to ensuring people with diabetes live long, healthy lives and offers real hope and progress toward diabetes prevention and a cure for the disease. Founded in 1898 by Elliott P. Joslin, M.D., Joslin is an independent nonprofit institution affiliated with Harvard Medical School. For more information, visit　www.joslin.org.

●About Sunstar
Sunstar is one of the Top Ten oral-care companies in the world and a world leader in the motorcycle parts business. The company was originally founded in 1932 as a manufacturer and seller of rubber glue for bicycle tires and metal tubes. Over the past decades it has developed a number of distinctive businesses based on its own leading-edge technologies. Today, Sunstar is a leading global company in the Mouth & Body Care field, a major presence in the Health & Beauty Care and the Environment & Amenity business fields, and a world-leader in the Safety Support & High Technology field. Its products and services are distributed in more than 90 countries. Sunstar’s decided to locate its World Headquarters in Etoy, Switzerland in 2002 to provide the base for Sunstar’s overall global management functions. For more information, visit http://www.sunstar.com/.

●About Sunstar Inc.
This is the central company of the Sunstar Group, with about 1,500 employees, posted 70.5 billion yen in consolidated net sales during the period ended March 2007.
・Headquarters: Takatsuki city, Osaka, Japan
・Established: 1950
・Main businesses: Manufacture and sales of oral care products, cosmetic products, and health-promoting products. For more information, visit　http://jp.sunstar.com/.

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