Nicox and Kowa ink deal for NCX 470 in Japan

8 February 2024

Shares of French ophthalmology biotech Nicox (Euronext: COX) shot up 16.8% to 0.48 euros this morning, after it announced a deal with privately-held Japanese firm Kowa Company.

Nicox is granting Kowa exclusive Japanese rights to develop and commercialize NCX 470, the firm‘s nitric oxide (NO)-donating bimatoprost eye drop, for the lowering of intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension.

Nicox has previously estimated that annual global net sales of NCX-470 (excluding Europe) could exceed $300 million within eight years of the product’s launch in the USA and China. However, Edison Investment analysts Pooya Demami believes the US estimates may be conservative, given that US branded Lumigan (bimatoprost), from AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV)) sales exceeded $270 million in 2021 and that NCX-470 is differentiated through its additional NO-mediated mechanism of action (in addition to its prostaglandin F2α mediated IOP lowering effects).

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