BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

Penwest drug delivery news

June 28, 2010 7:00 AM UTC

In a letter to shareholders earlier this month, Tang and Perceptive said Penwest management has not acted on a proposal to immediately wind down the company's operations despite the proposal's approval at last year's annual meeting. Tang and Perceptive recommended that Penwest explore ways to monetize early stage candidate A0001 and cease all expenses related to the alpha-tocopherol quinone. The compound is in Phase IIa testing to treat Friedreich's ataxia and MELAS syndrome, a progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by a mutation in mitochondrial DNA (see BioCentury, June 15, 2009).

Tang and Perceptive also said that if their directors were elected, the activist shareholders intend to review the company's employee base, "with the view towards eliminating all positions that are not funded by ongoing drug delivery collaborations." ...