Advertise With UsAdvertise on our extensive network of industry websites and newsletters.
Get the PBR newsletterSign up to our free email to get all the latest PBR
news.NicOx and Grupo Ferrer Internacional have selected a compound, NCX 1047, for further development in their collaboration focused on improving the risk-benefit profile of commonly used dermatology products.
Subscribe to our email newsletter
The selection of NCX 1047 marks the successful completion of the partners' research program to identify a new synthetic nitric oxide (NO)-donating corticosteroid with the potential for an improved risk-benefit ratio.
Ferrer and NicOx were jointly responsible for this research project, in which a number of NO-donating compounds were synthesized and assessed for their activity and suitability for development.
The first round of testing was conducted in vitro and involved measuring glucocorticoid receptor binding, the level of NO donation and NO-mediated effects. Compounds successfully passing this first round were assessed in several different in vivo models of skin inflammation, including some related to specific dermatological disorders.
Several of the analyzed compounds were shown to have increased activity compared with their parent molecule on a number of inflammatory parameters.
The companies said that NCX 1047 was chosen due to its superior overall profile. Ferrer will manage and fund all development of NCX 1047 through to registration, under the oversight of a joint NicOx and Ferrer development committee.
“We believe there is a clear market need for a higher potency corticosteroid with improved local safety and tolerability, or which could be used more sparingly due to increased activity. Both partners are eager to complete preclinical development of NCX 1047 and initiate clinical development as soon as possible,” said Ennio Ongini, vice president of research at NicOx.