U.S. Patent Office Issues Notice of Allowance for Nicox’s Latanoprostene Bunod in Normal Tension Glaucoma
April 27, 2021
Sophia Antipolis, France
Nicox SA (Euronext Paris: FR0013018124, COX), an international ophthalmology company, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a Notice of Allowance for the U.S. patent covering the use of latanoprostene bunod for the treatment of normal tension glaucoma. Latanoprostene bunod ophthalmic solution, 0.024%, is commercialized as VYZULTA®, for the reduction of intraocular pressure in patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension in the United States and other territories that have the same indication.
Normal tension glaucoma, also known as low tension or normal pressure glaucoma, is a form of glaucoma in which damage occurs to the optic nerve at intraocular pressure (IOP) within the normal range (less than 21 mmHg). Normal tension glaucoma is typically treated by reducing the eye pressure using medications, laser treatments and/or conventional surgery.
VYZULTA is commercialized by Nicox’s exclusive global licensee Bausch + Lomb in the U.S. (since 2017), Canada (2019), Argentina (2020), Mexico (2020) and Hong Kong (2020), and is now approved in 5 other territories (Brazil, Colombia, South Korea, Taiwan and Ukraine).
Under the terms of the exclusive global license agreement with Bausch + Lomb, Nicox receives increasing tiered royalties of 6% to 12% on net global sales of VYZULTA plus up to $150 million in potential future milestone payments.