NicOx S.A. announced that it is to reacquire full rights to the new proprietary class of anti-inflammatory and analgesic compounds, Cinod, from AstraZeneca plc, including the two lead compounds in the class, AZD3582 and AZD4717. The Company will now seek new partners for development of the Cinod class, which has demonstrated excellent efficacy, gastric tolerability and cardiovascular safety in an extensive Phase II clinical trial program involving more than 3000 subjects, thus showing the additional benefits from nitric oxide donation.

NicOx's reacquisition of the Cinod rights follows AstraZeneca's decision not to advance the lead product, AZD3582, into Phase III trials. Despite achieving very good safety and efficacy endpoints in the Phase I and II studies and confirming the additional benefits from nitric oxide donation, AstraZeneca deemed that the results on AZD3582 did not fulfill their strategic commercial criteria for further investment.

Michele Garufi, Chairman and CEO of NicOx, commented: "Although surprised by the strategic decision of AstraZeneca to discontinue the program on Cinods, we remain fully convinced of the potential of this class and we are confident of attracting new partners for these compounds and for the other projects in our pipeline."