NORTHBROOK, Ill. and RICHMOND, Va., Oct. 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- At any given moment in America, there are more than 120,000 men, women and children awaiting lifesaving organ transplantsⁱ. To bring greater focus to the critical importance of organ donation, Astellas and Donate Life America will attempt to break the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for online organ donor registrations in an eight-hour period from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Daylight Time (CDT) on Saturday, Nov. 5. The record-breaking attempt will take place during the Astellas-sponsored New Zealand All Blacks and Irish Rugby Football Union match at Chicago's Soldier Field.

"2016 marks the third year in a row that Astellas has used international rugby as a global platform for educating and engaging people around the world on important health issues," said Jim Robinson, president, Astellas Americas. "We understand that community engagement plays a pivotal role in bringing increased education and awareness to areas such as prostate cancer and organ donation, and we look forward to connecting with fans, patients and caregivers around the world through our support of this program."

All eligible U.S. residents are encouraged to help break the record by registering to be an organ donor at RugbyRecord.org or using the Apple Health App as part of iOS 10. Everyone is also encouraged to help raise awareness of the importance of organ donation by sharing the hashtag #organdonor via Twitter beginning today and through Nov. 5. In celebration, every social post including the hashtag will support a $5 contribution from Astellas to the World Transplant Games Federation's (WTGF) Fit for Life! program, up to a maximum of $175,000 USD. To learn more about Fit for Life! please visit www.wtgf.org

ⁱ Donate Life America (2016). Organ, Eye and Tissue Donation Statistics. Retrieved October 11, 2016 from: https://www.donatelife.net/statistics/

About Astellas
Astellas is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the health of people around the world through the provision of innovative and reliable pharmaceutical products. For more information on Astellas, please visit our website at www.astellas.us. You can also follow us on Twitter at @AstellasUS, Facebook at www.facebook.com/AstellasUS or LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/astellas-pharma.

About Donate Life America
Donate Life America is a 501(c)3 nonprofit alliance of national organizations and Donate Life State Teams across the United States committed to increasing the number of donated organs, eyes and tissue available for transplant to save and heal lives. Donate Life America manages and promotes the national brand for donation, Donate Life^SM; develops and executes effective multi-media donor education programs; motivates the American public to register now as organ, eye and tissue donors; maintains the National Donate Life Registry, www.RegisterMe.org; and assists Donate Life State Teams and national partners in facilitating high-performing donor registration programs. For more information, please visit www.DonateLife.net.

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SOURCE Astellas