Edison Pharma’s Partnership Offers Hope for Mito Communuty

The nation’s leading mitochondrial disease patient advocacy organizations have joined together to congratulate Edison Pharmaceuticals in their announcement last week of a nearly $4.3 billion strategic partnership with Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co., Ltd. of Japan. The Mitochondrial Disease Action Committee (MitoAction) and the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation (UMDF) believe that the partnership between the two pharmaceutical companies is monumental for the mitochondrial disease patient community.

The partnership enables Edison to have the resources to bring drugs specifically created for pediatric mitochondrial disease patients, like EPI-743, to the marketplace. The partnership also enables both companies to research, develop, and build a pipeline containing 10 new drugs targeting various aspects of cellular energy metabolism. Those efforts will allow the two companies the ability to target adult neurological diseases that also directly impact the mitochondrial disease adult community.

“Not only does the partnership between Edison and Dainippon Sumitomo give us real hope for a treatment for mitochondrial disease in the foreseeable future, this alliance instantiates the field of ‘mitochondrial medicine,’” said Cristy Balcells, RN MSN, and Executive Director of MitoAction. “Our patients, patient community and separately Edison have been pioneering this concept. Today, our dream has become a reality. We believe the field of mitochondrial medicines will grow and establish itself as a standard medical and household term,” Balcells added.

“This is a huge victory for mitochondrial medicine,” said Charles A. Mohan, Jr., CEO/Executive Director of the UMDF.  “When a partnership of this magnitude is announced, it brings attention to the broader impact that finding treatments and cures for mitochondrial disease has on all of us,” Mohan said.

Mitochondrial dysfunction is linked to many neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, ALS, and other diseases like diabetes and some cancers.

“Our expanded partnership with Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma codifies a common value system and vision for discovering and developing new drugs for patients suffering from diseases that share a common mitochondrial mechanism,” said Guy Miller, MD, PhD, Chairman, CEO, Edison Pharmaceuticals, Inc. “By combining efforts with DSP, we are able to scale our initial discoveries and therapeutic programs, and to begin to establish our commercial enterprise. This will start with EPI-743 currently being developed for children with a variety of rare mitochondrial diseases.”

As patient advocacy groups, UMDF and MitoAction have worked in a collaborative effort over the past five years to provide education and information about Edison’s EPI-743 and other novel therapeutics in development. Both organizations are grateful to the Edison team, specifically Guy Miller, for his dedication, inspiration, and transparency in providing information to, and receiving input from the mitochondrial disease patient community as he continues his mission toward providing the first approved mitochondrial disease drug.

Please join us for a teleconference with Edison Pharma to learn more about this alliance and ask questions.

Date: 02/05/2014
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