Bausch + Lomb, the eye health business of
Bausch Health Companies Inc.
BHC
, and Novaliq GmbH announced that the first of the two phase III studies evaluating NOV03 (perfluorohexyloctane)to treat the signs and symptoms of Dry eye disease (DED) associated with Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) has been completely enrolled.
The study enrolled 599 participants.
Shares of the company have decreased 7.4% against the
industry
’s growth of 20.2% in the past year.
Further, a phase II study (SEECASE) evaluating the efficacy, safety and tolerability of NOV03 ophthalmic solution in patients with DED associated with MGD was published. In the study, NOV03 met its primary efficacy endpoint of statistically significant improvement of total corneal fluorescein staining over control at eight weeks.It also showed statistically significant improvement in some symptoms, including the severity and frequency of dryness, burning and stinging of the eyes. The results from the SEECASE study support NOV03 as a potential new treatment option for patients with DED associated with MGD.
Bausch Health and Bausch + Lomb have an exclusive license in the United States and Canada for the commercialization and development of NOV03, which is based on Novaliq’s EyeSol technology.
There are several companies developing products for the treatment of dry eye disease.
AbbVie
’s
ABBV
Restasis (added to the portfolio with the acquisition of Allergan) is already marketed for the treatment of dry eye disease. However, Restasis has several patents that are set to expire in 2024.
Aerie Pharmaceuticals
AERI
is evaluating AR-15512 ophthalmic solutionfor the treatment of patients withdry eye disease.
Zacks Rank & a Stock to Consider
Bausch Health currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
A better-ranked stock in the healthcare sector includes
Acorda Therapeutics Inc.
(
ACOR
) carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here
.
Acorda’s loss per share estimates have narrowed from $9.66 to $8.48 for 2020 and from $9.60 to $7.33 for 2021 over the past 60 days.
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