SAN FRANCISCO, May 25 (UPI) -- San Francisco-based Antipodean said Thursday it initiated a phase 2 trial of MitoQ in patients with Parkinson's disease.
"Initiating this phase 2 efficacy study is a major milestone for our company," said Ken Taylor, Antipodean's chief executive officer. "We believe MitoQ is a promising compound and the study start is testament to quality research and a very efficient drug development program."
The trial, which will include treatment-naive Parkinson's patients, will take place in New Zealand and Australia.
MitoQ, which uses targeted lipophilic cations, is intended to reduce damage that can result from mitochondrial dysfunction.
"This is potentially groundbreaking technology," Michael Murphy of the MRC Dunn Human Nutrition Unit in Cambridge, England, and a co-inventor of the compound, said in a statement issued by Antipodean.
"The compound being tested, MitoQ, has already been internationally recognized as the first to effectively target mitochondrial dysfunction, a key mechanism underlying Parkinson's Disease," Murphy added.
