| Press Release |
| Nicox Extends Cash Runway into Q4 2025 |
March 6, 2025 – release at 7:30 am CET Nicox SA (Euronext Growth Paris: FR0013018124, ALCOX), an international ophthalmology company, today announced the extension of its cash runway into Q4 2025 with an initial €0.5 million upfront payment as part of a flexible equity line of financing entered into with Vester Finance. This financing is in the form of a PACEO1 limited to a maximum of 10,000,000 shares (a maximum of 14.5% of the currently issued share capital2 and 9.4% on a full-diluted basis3) over a period of 24 months. “2024 was a period of consolidation for the company and 2025 is about writing the future. Pending the availability of the upcoming Denali data in Q3, partnering discussions for NCX 470 are already underway along with outreach to multiple potential partners, and activities to support a New Drug Application are on track for a U.S. submission in H1 2026 and a potential commercial launch in H1 2027.” said Gavin Spencer, Chief Executive Officer of Nicox. “Together with the VYZULTA royalty sale and investment by Soleus Capital in October 2024, this flexible financing with Vester Finance allows us to immediately extend the cash runway into Q4 2025. It enables a focus on the strategic options which could facilitate the development and commercialization of NCX 470 and the future growth of the Company.” Cash runway extended into at least Q4 2025 Based on the current cash position, the initial payment from this financing and expected milestone income from existing agreements, the Company estimates that it is financed into Q4 2025, beyond the topline results from the Denali trial. This cash runway could be further extended depending on the performance of the line of financing. If any of the assumptions around estimated income or costs change, this may impact the cash runway of the Company. Terms of the flexible equity line financing Under the terms of the agreement signed on March 5, 2025, Vester Finance agreed to subscribe for a maximum of 10,000,000 shares in the Company, representing up to 14.5% of the share capital, and 9.4% on a fully-diluted basis3, at its own initiative, over a maximum period of 24 months, subject to certain customary contractual conditions. The shares will be issued based on the average stock market price preceding each issuance4, less a maximum discount of 6.5%, in compliance with the pricing policy and the cap set by the Annual General Meeting5. The net proceeds of the share issue will be paid out as after deduction of a fee of 2.5%. At the current share price6, the total gross proceeds of this financing would potentially be €3 million. This amount is dependent on market conditions. Nicox has committed to use up to 50% of the PACEO line, after which the Company has the right to terminate the agreement at any time. Assuming full use of this equity line, a shareholder holding 1.00% of Nicox’s capital before the transaction would see a reduction in his stake to 0.87% of the capital. This transaction was authorized by the Chief Executive Officer using a delegation granted by the meeting of the Board of Directors of March 5, 2025, who themselves used the delegation granted by the General Meeting of the shareholders of the Company on May 6, 2024 under the 8th resolution7. There is no requirement for a prospectus to be submitted to the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). This equity line financing was structured and underwritten by Vester Finance, a European company which regularly invests in small-cap growth companies, particularly in the healthcare and biotech sectors. Vester Finance, acting here as an investor with no intention of remaining a shareholder, may sell the shares over a short or long period time. Risk Factors Risks factors which are likely to have a material effect on Nicox’s business are presented in section 3 of the “Rapport Annuel 2023” and in section 4 of the “Rapport semestriel financier et d’activité 2024” which are available on Nicox’s website (www.nicox.com). The sale of the shares is likely to have an impact on the volatility and liquidity of the stock, as well as on the Company’s share price. The number of shares issued under this transaction and admitted to trading will be announced on the Company’s website. |
| About Nicox | |
| Nicox SA is an international ophthalmology company developing innovative solutions to help maintain vision and improve ocular health. Nicox’s lead program in clinical development is NCX 470 (bimatoprost grenod), a novel nitric oxide-donating bimatoprost eye drop, for lowering intraocular pressure in patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension. Nicox also has a preclinical research program on NCX 1728, a nitric oxide-donating phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor, with Glaukos. Nicox’s first product, VYZULTA® in glaucoma, licensed exclusively worldwide to Bausch + Lomb, is available commercially in the U.S. and over 15 other territories. Nicox generates revenue from ZERVIATE® in allergic conjunctivitis, licensed in multiple geographies, including to Harrow, Inc. in the U.S., and Ocumension Therapeutics in the Chinese and in the majority of Southeast Asian markets.
Nicox, headquartered in Sophia Antipolis, France, is listed on Euronext Growth Paris (Ticker symbol: ALCOX) and is part of the CAC Healthcare index. For more information www.nicox.com |
|
| Analyst coverage | |
|
H.C. Wainwright & Co Yi Chen New York, U.S. |
|
| The views expressed by analysts in their coverage of Nicox are those of the author and do not reflect the views of Nicox. Additionally, the information contained in their reports may not be correct or current. Nicox disavows any obligation to correct or to update the information contained in analyst reports. | |
| Contacts | |
| Nicox Gavin Spencer Chief Executive Officer T +33 (0)4 97 24 53 00 [email protected] |
|
| Disclaimer | |
| This press release and the information contained therein do not constitute an offer to sell or an offer to subscribe, or a solicitation to purchase or to subscribe Nicox’s shares in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. The distribution of this press release may be restricted in certain jurisdictions by local law. Persons coming into possession of this press release are required to comply with all local regulations applicable to this press release.
The information contained in this document may be modified without prior notice. This information includes forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. These statements are based on current expectations or beliefs of the management of Nicox S.A. and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Nicox S.A. and its affiliates, directors, officers, employees, advisers or agents, do not undertake, nor do they have any obligation, to provide updates or to revise any forward-looking statements. Risks factors which are likely to have a material effect on Nicox’s business are presented in section 3 of the “Rapport Annuel 2023” and in section 4 of the “Rapport semestriel financier et d’activité 2024” which are available on Nicox’s website (www.nicox.com). Finally, this press release may be drafted in the French and English languages. If both versions are interpreted differently, the French language version shall prevail. |
|
| Nicox S.A. Sundesk Sophia Antipolis, Bâtiment C, Emerald Square, Rue Evariste Galois, 06410 Biot, France T +33 (0)4 97 24 53 00 |
|
1 Programme d’Augmentation de Capital par Exercice d’Options (Capital increase program through exercise of warrants)
2 Non-diluted share capital as of 5 March 2025
3 Taking into account the issue of 37,129,720 new shares issuable at the date of this press release on the exercise of stock options (1,187,205 shares), the vesting of restricted stock (4,078,177 shares), the exercise of warrants (18,664,338 shares) and the conversion of bonds convertible into equity (13,200,000 shares).
4 The lowest volume-weighted average daily share price, calculated over the 2 consecutive trading sessions preceding each issue.
5 The issue price of the shares must be, within the framework of this resolution, “at least equal to the average of the average volume-weighted prices of the last 3 trading days preceding the setting of the issue price, possibly reduced by a maximum discount of 30%”.
6 Share price of €0.30 on March 5, 2025
7 Delegation of a capital increase with cancellation of shareholders’ preferential subscription rights to a category of persons with specific characteristics
Attachment
- EN_FinancingMarch 2025_PR_FINAL
