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Nuformix Shares Rallied 48% on Progress in Cancer Drug NXP004

Simon Mugo trader
Updated 20 Dec 2022

The Nuformix PLC (LON: NFX) share price rallied 48.3% after announcing its NXP004 drug candidate, which is an improved form of AstraZeneca’s olaparib cancer drug, marketed under the Lynparza® brand name, has better absorption that the original drug.


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Investors cheered the news that could see the company develop a generic cancer drug that is much better than the original drug making it the preferred choice for the target patients.

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YOUR CAPITAL IS AT RISK. 76% OF RETAIL CFD ACCOUNTS LOSE MONEY

The rally higher was also driven by the significant addressable market for the drug, given that Lynparza® generated US$2.7bn in sales in 2021. Analysts expect the drug to generate revenue worth US$9.7bn by 2028.

Nuformix’s drug candidate addresses a key disadvantage associated with  Lynparza®, which is the low bioavailability of olaparib, which tends to burden patients with multiple pills to hit the required drug doses for effective treatment. 

The company has identified two lead cocrystals with the potential for maximum absorption and has filed patent applications to protect its new formulations. The two NXP004 cocrystals selected can outperform Lynparza® in terms of the rate and extent of dissolution and the release of olaparib.

Furthermore, the NXP004 cocrystals can be manufactured at a lower cost compared to Lynparza®, which requires complex manufacturing strategies, leading to higher production costs. 

The company is set to start preclinical pharmacokinetic studies to get accurate data and validate NXP004's potential for enhancing the oral absorption of olaparib. The firm intends to start discussions with potential commercial partners once it has collected the pharmacokinetic data. 

Dr Dan Gooding, Nuformix’s Executive Director, said: “I’m delighted with the results of the head-to-head dissolution studies, which exceeded my expectations and have demonstrated first-time that the lead NXP004 cocrystals offer significant scope for enhanced performance versus Lynparza®… The NXP004 cocrystals studied demonstrate some of the best dissolution performance I’ve seen from applying the technology – a step-change in dissolution performance. Yet, they appear to lack any of the common drawbacks that can hamper the development of cocrystal-based products, which is surprising.”

Nuformix shares had given up some of their gains at the time of publishing. 

*This is not investment advice. 

Nuformix share price.

The Nuformix share price rallied 48.28% to trade at 0.43p, rising from Monday’s closing price of 0.29p.


YOUR CAPITAL IS AT RISK. 76% OF RETAIL CFD ACCOUNTS LOSE MONEY.


Simon has over six years of professional trading experience across FX, commodities and equities. He has a strong passion for financial markets and is particularly focused on price action trading