On the plus side, the Mont Blanc trial of the drug showed that it was as effective in treating the eye disease as prostaglandin analogue latanoprost 0.005%, a standard therapy for glaucoma, which bodes well for NCX 470 to meet the criteria for FDA approval – assuming, of course, a second phase 3 study called Denali is also positive.
The downside is that the study was also designed to allow NCX 470 to show superiority to latanoprost, and on that secondary endpoint it failed. That could “restrain expectations surrounding the product’s differentiated positioning” against current drugs for glaucoma, according to Edison analyst Pooya Hemami.
