European Biotech News
Shares of the biotech firm NicOx have been pummeled after an EU panel rejects their anti-inflammatory treatment naproxcinod. The French company said it would drop its European application for the treatment after an expert panel gave it the thumb's down. This comes on the heels of a US FDA rejection as well, and caused shares of the company to drop 34% following the announcement.
The FDA had serious issues with the safety of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory painkiller, and said that the developer never made a successful case that the new therapy did not raise blood pressure. Hopes had been high that naproxcinod would succeed where Celebrex had failed, and become a blockbuster drug. However, the rejections have instead caused the company to cut its workforce by 50% and abandon its US HQ.