Nicox – executive interview

Nicox develops drugs for eye diseases, with lead candidate NCX-470 in Phase III trials targeting the topical ocular treatment of glaucoma. NCX-470 combines a nitric oxide-donating molecule with an analogue of established prostaglandin F2a drug, bimatoprost. The NCX-470 0.065% drug concentration has shown up to 1.4mmHg additional lowering of intraocular pressure (IOP) compared to latanoprost in the Phase II study, and the Phase III programme is testing a higher 0.1% drug concentration. Nicox is also advancing NCX-4251 for dry eye disease following a positive post-hoc analysis of its Phase IIb trial data.

In this interview, recently appointed chief scientific officer Doug Hubatsch describes his prior experience in bringing glaucoma and dry eye pharmaceuticals to market and what prompted him to join Nicox and help advance its product development pipeline. Doug also explains the attributes of NCX-470 and its development programme that can potentially make the drug a leading first-line glaucoma therapy, including its dual mechanism of action, the Phase III study design comparing its efficacy to latanoprost, and recent promising data in animal models suggesting that the drug may have neuroprotective properties. Doug also outlines the next steps for NCX-4251 and NCX-1728, as well as upcoming milestones for the company.