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news.NicOx has said that its ongoing research collaboration with Merck & Co. on the blood pressure drug NCX 899 has produced good preclinical results.
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NCX 899 is part of NicOx' proprietary nitric oxide-donating technology that may have the potential to improve blood pressure lowering activity of antihypertensive agents.
In the preclinical study, enalapril, a common hypertensive drug and NCX 899, which is a nitric oxide-donating derivative of enalapril, were studied in rats. The compounds were administered orally, once daily, for seven consecutive days. NCX 899 produced a statistically significant better reduction in systolic blood pressure compared to enalapril when measured on day seven.
NCX 899's blood pressure lowering activity was sustained over the full seven-day administration schedule showing that nitric oxide-donation of NCX 899 did not induce tolerance. NCX 899 was associated with a statistically significant increase of basel plasma nitrate levels compared to enalapril, suggesting that the activity of NCX 899 is due to nitric oxide donation.
In March 2006 NicOx signed a worldwide license agreement with Merck to collaborate on the development of the nitric oxide-donating technology.