Valeant Acquires Nicox Diagnostics Subsidiary In $20M Deal

Nicox announced today the sale of its U.S. diagnostic subsidiary to Valeant for $10 million cash up front and an additional $10 million to be delivered when sales goals for transferred products are met. The deal allows Valeant to strengthen its footing in the ophthalmology field while allowing Nicox to focus its attentions on therapeutics.

This is the latest in a steady stream of acquisitions for Valeant, formed in 2010 from the merger of its U.S. predecessor and Biovail. The largest of these purchases was the 2013 acquisition of Bausch & Lomb (B&L) for $8.6 billion. At the time, Mike Pearson, CEO of Valeant, expressed his interest in both dermatology and eye care.

“Ophthalmology has been an area we’ve been talking about probably for three years,” Pearson told Bloomberg. According to Pearson, ophthalmology is a growing market and specialty.

Under the terms of the deal, Valeant acquires the rights to Nicox’s diagnostic products, including two diagnostic panels, one for the early detection of Sjögren’s syndrome and another for age-related macular degeneration.

According to Michele Garufi, CEO of Nicox, “The decision to focus on therapeutics is due to several recent and short-to-mid-term opportunities under advanced discussions. This strategic move with our long-standing partner Valeant will enable us to leverage resources for our growing pipeline of advanced drug-candidates.”

Chief amongst those candidates is glaucoma treatment Vesneo, out-licensed to B&L which has just successfully completed phase 3 clinical trials and is awaiting FDA approval. If approved, Nicox hopes to launch the $1 billion dollar drug into the U.S. market in 2016.

Additionally, Nicox has undertaken acquisitions of its own, completing four within the past year. Amongst these, Aciex comes with a strong pipeline of advanced drugs, including a candidate for allergic conjunctivitis.

Valeant’s acquisition does not affect the terms of the deal with Aciex.