Nicox granted exclusive promotion and marketing rights for AMD test in North America

French biotech firm NicOx SA (NYSE Euronext Paris: COX) and USA-based Sequenom(Nasdaq: SQNM) have entered into an exclusive agreement for age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

As part of this accord, NicOx has been granted the North American promotional rights to the Sequenom Laboratories RetnaGene AMD laboratory-developed test, for the evaluation of a patient’s risk of AMD disease progression within two, five and 10 years. The RetnaGene AMD test will be promoted by the same NicOx US sales force which recently launched Sjo, an advanced diagnostic panel for the early detection of Sjogren’s Syndrome. NicOx expects to begin promoting the RetnaGene AMD test in the USA in the first half of 2014.

Jerry St Peter, executive vice president and general manager of NicOx, said: “AMD affects approximately 15 million people in the United States and is a leading cause of vision loss in Americans aged 60 and over. The ability to identify those patients most at risk of progressing to wet AMD represents a major opportunity to optimize the management of their disease. We are delighted to have formed this agreement with Sequenom Laboratories to market the RetnaGene AMD test, which fits perfectly within our diagnostics portfolio, and potentially other novel genetic tests in the future.”