Dr. Tetsuro Yamamoto, Director of the Research Center of EPS Innovative Medicine Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Representative Director: Satoshi Okoso), together with Professor Keiichi Tsukinoki of Kanagawa Dental University and Professor Emeritus Hideyo Yamaguchi of Teikyo University, reported the results suggesting that secretory immunoglobulin A is associated with lower incidence of COVID-1 9 in Japan.  
【Key points of this research】
・Noting that as of November 2020, the incidence of COVID-19 is extremely low in Japan　despite the fact that vaccination rates are lower than in other countries. ・Among immunoglobulins, we hypothesized that infection with SARS-CoV-2 is inhibited especially by secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) secreted from mucous membranes. ・Saliva samples were collected and examined from all the 180 healthy participants from Japan who had not been exposed to SARS‐CoV‐2. 95 people (or 52.78% of the total) of the individuals were positive for saliva IgA antibodies. It was observed among the study that IgA antibody is associated with a low incidence of covid-19.  
【Outline of Paper Publication】
The results of this research are published in Microbiology and Immunology published in August 2022.

Title	Prevalence of saliva immunoglobulin A antibodies　reactive with severe acute respiratory syndrome　coronavirus 2 among Japanese people unexposed to the virus.
Authors	Tsukinoki K(1), Yamamoto T(2), Saito J(3), Sakaguchi W(1), Iguchi K(4), Inoue Y(5), et al.
Affiliation	(1)Kanagawa Dental University Graduate School of Environmental Pathology (2)EPS Holdings Co., Ltd./ EPS Innovative Medicine Co., Ltd. (3)Medical Station Clinic (4)Department of Orthodontics, Kanagawa Dental University (5)Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Kanagawa Dental University
DOI	10.1111/1348-0421.13011

 
【About EPS Innovative Medicine Co., Ltd.】
We are a core company of EPS Creative Health Technology Group Co., Ltd. in the pharmaceutical discovery business. Our goal is to develop the seeds introduced from academia and the seeds found in our research department, and aims at promoting to Japan and China markets, or to license out to the partner enterprises.  
Inquiries regarding this matter

EPS.Innovative Medicine Co., Ltd. Research Center Kazuki Tajima E-mail : tajima.kazuki374@eps.co.jp