Edison to receive milestone payment from Penwest

Penwest has begun dosing in a Phase Ia clinical trial of A0001, a 2nd generation coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) analog. It differs from CoQ10 in that it possesses more favorable oral absorption and electron transfer properties.

CoQ10 is said to be a first-line therapy for many rare diseases of energy metabolism. Edison’s strategy is to improve upon CoQ10’s biological activity by optimizing its redox properties. A0001 is the first redox-optimized CoQ10 analog in Edison’s clinical development pipeline.

Edison believes that inherited mitochondrial diseases may be genetic roadmaps to deciphering the biochemical basis of metabolic control and aging. Given CoQ10’s known role in mitochondrial disease and aging, as well as its redox activity, Edison’s initial investigations are focusing on the development of CoQ10 based drugs.

Guy Miller, chairman and CEO of Edison, said: “We expect to focus our energies on refining our approach to treating rare mitochondrial diseases, and expanding our investigation of redox drugs for the treatment of diseases of aging.”