NicOx, RPS sign worldwide licensing agreement

Sophia Antipolis, France, and Sarasota, FL-NicOx S.A. and Rapid Pathogen Screening Inc (RPS) have entered into a licensing agreement that gives NicOx access to RPS’s point-of-care ocular diagnostic tests.

Under the agreement, NicOx will pay RPS $4 million in license and option fees for an existing point-of-care diagnostic test. The financial terms include single-digit royalties and potential additional milestone payments of up to $2 million.

The test (AdenoPlus) detects all known serotypes of adenovirus using a small tear sample and provides a definitive result in 10 minutes.

The adenoviral conjunctivitis test is FDA 510(k) cleared and has been granted waived status under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA). The test is CE marked in Europe and is also authorized for marketing in other countries throughout the world.

The agreement grants NicOx exclusive rights to commercialize the adenoviral conjunctivitis test to eye-care professionals in the United States, as well as full exclusive rights to market it in the rest of the world. RPS maintains rights to commercialize its ocular tests to primary and urgent-care professionals in the United States.

 NicOx expects to launch the adenoviral conjunctivitis test in the United States and in key European markets by the end of the year.

The worldwide licensing agreement also covers two additional diagnostic tests currently in development, one for the combined detection of adenoviral and allergic conjunctivitis and the other to diagnose ocular herpes. NicOx will pay half of the development costs for these two tests, subject to an agreed budget. The agreement grants NicOx an exclusive worldwide option to negotiate an agreement for an additional product, based on RPS meeting certain milestones.

“RPS’s innovative and easy-to-use tests allow practitioners to make a more accurate diagnosis during the office visit, provide appropriate and timely treatment, and reduce health care costs associated with spread of disease and unnecessary antibiotic treatment,” said Terrence O’Brien, MD, professor of ophthalmology, Charlotte Breyer Rodgers Distinguished Chair in Ophthalmology, and director of the refractive surgery service at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute of the Palm Beaches, FL. “This collaboration will make RPS products more easily accessible, allowing for better patient care and improved outcomes.”

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