Edison Pharmaceuticals Closes Series B Financing

    SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Edison Pharmaceuticals, Inc.,
 a privately held biotechnology company located in San Jose, CA, announced
 today, the close of $4.25M Series B Preferred Stock Offering. The financing
 was led by Mr. Carl Berg, Berg & Berg Enterprises, LLC. New investors
 include John W. Marriott, III, President and CEO of JWM, LP, and JWM Family
 Enterprises. Terms of the financing were not disclosed.
     Edison's initial clinical focus is inherited mitochondrial diseases.
 These indications represent an attractive therapeutic starting point given
 the orphan nature of the clinical populations and applicability of Edison's
 redox drugs to these conditions.
     "With a strong balance sheet, development partners, and technology
 alliances in place, Edison is well positioned to execute on its plan,"
 stated Guy Miller, MD, PhD, Chairman and CEO of Edison Pharmaceuticals.
 "Capital derived from this financing will allow us to broaden our orphan
 mitochondrial drug mission, and explore utility in non-orphan ischemic,
 inflammatory, metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases where the role of
 redox therapeutics and mitochondrial mechanisms are suggested, but not yet
 successfully reduced to practice."
     Capital raised from the Series B financing will be used to expedite the
 translation of three pre-clinical compounds into development. Edison
 anticipates, through its recently announced partnership with Penwest
 Pharmaceuticals, that Penwest will advance its first drug candidate,
 EPI-A0001, into clinical development in early 2008. Additional late stage
 pre-clinical compounds are anticipated to enter development for orphan
 inherited mitochondrial diseases in 2008 and 2009.
     While antioxidants have been recognized for their generalized health
 and anti-aging benefits, there has been an inability to translate this
 important class of compounds to effective drugs. Edison is addressing this
 need by reverse-engineering antioxidants to improve upon their redox and
 pharmacological properties. Edison's first clinical development effort has
 centered on the coenzyme Q10 chemical template, given its pivotal role in
 mitochondrial function and clinical data suggesting utility in multiple
 mitochondrial diseases. The company is advancing additional redox-templates
 through its discovery pipeline.
     About Edison Pharmaceuticals
     Edison Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company,
 based in Silicon Valley at the San Jose BioCenter, is focused on drugs
 targeting the mitochondria -- the cell's energy center. Edison's technology
 platform consists of a specialized knowledge in redox therapeutics and
 translational pharmacology, pivotal to targeting cellular energy
 metabolism. The Company's initial focus is on inherited diseases of the
 mitochondrial respiratory chain, and leveraging insights derived therein,
 to pursue non-orphan diseases that share common mechanisms. Edison has
 obtained substantial peer-reviewed grants from multiple foundations and the
 NIH.
 
 

SOURCE Edison Pharmaceuticals, Inc.