France's NicOx has scored an eight percent bump in its stock price with data from a second pivotal trial showing that its leading painkiller hit all three primary endpoints as well as a key secondary endpoint. The bump--no mean feat on a trading day like today-- came after investors saw that naproxcinod was not inferior to naproxen. And naproxcinod produced a statistically significant reduction in blood pressure compared to naproxen. NicOx's stock in trade is making nitric oxide-releasing versions of drugs.
"We are impressed by the strong efficacy results observed in this study, which have replicated the positive results of the 301 trial and clearly demonstrated non-inferiority to naproxen at 26 weeks," said Michele Garufi, chairman and CEO of NicOx. "The results of these two pivotal studies give us increasing confidence that naproxcinod will meet regulatory requirements for approval in the United States and Europe. Moreover, based on the results of the pooled analysis on blood pressure from these studies, we firmly believe that naproxcinod has the potential to fulfill the current medical need for an efficacious anti-inflammatory agent with no detrimental impact on blood pressure."
This is sure to be welcomed news for investors, who saw NicOx shares plunge 38 percent in May after a trial failure led Pfizer to announce that it would not continue with the Phase III trial of their experimental therapy for glaucoma.
- check out the NicOx release