PARIS - NicOx S.A., a drug-development company specialized in therapeutic compounds that release nitric oxide, started a Phase IIa clinical trial of a drug for the treatment of urinary incontinence. The multicenter trial is being carried out at two French establishments, the Institut Propara in Montpellier and the Saint Jacques hospital in Nantes.

NiCox, based in Sophia-Antipolis, is focusing primarily on nitric oxide-releasing non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NO-NSAIDs), which have broad therapeutic applications and are claimed to have better tolerability than existing therapies.

The compound it has brought to Phase II clinical development, HCT-1026, is a nitro-flurbiprofen derivative which, in Phase I trials conducted in the UK, demonstrated superior tolerability in comparison with a conventional NSAID, the usual therapy for urinary incontinence. The Phase II trial is designed to assess the efficacy of HCT-1026 in patients suffering from neurogenic bladder instability.

According to the chairman and CEO of NiCox, Michele Garufi, the drug is not only the company's lead compound and the first to be tested in human patients, but it also is a candidate for development as an innovative treatment for osteoporosis. Another pathology that NiCox is targeting is Alzheimer's disease, and the company plans to initiate clinical trials of a treatment for that disease in 2000.

Four more compounds developed by NiCox for other therapeutic applications have been taken into clinical development by two pharmaceutical companies, Bayer AG of Germany and Astra AB of Sweden, with which NiCox signed collaboration agreements in February and September 1998, respectively. Its collaboration with Bayer covers NO-aspirin and derivatives in the primary indications of pain and thrombosis, while its agreement with Astra covers selected NO-NSAIDs for the treatment of pain and inflammation.

Earlier this year NiCox announced that it was planning an initial public offering on France's Nouveau Marchi in June or October this year with the aim of raising $60 million to $80 million to fund its ongoing research program. (See BioWorld International, Feb. 24, 1999, p. 1.)