SOPHIA ANTIPOLIS CEDEX, FRANCE--(Marketwire - Aug 28, 2012) - www.nicox.com

NicOx S.A. (EURONEXT PARIS: COX) today announced the strengthening of its United States (US) business operations with the appointment of three senior commercial executives at NicOx Inc., its US subsidiary. These follow the appointment of Jerry St. Peter as Executive Vice President and General Manager of NicOx Inc. in March 2012.

NicOx is building up its commercial organization in the US and in Europe following the recent in-licensing of AdenoPlus™, a rapid point-of-care test for the detection of adenoviral conjunctivitis, which is already approved for marketing in the US and Europe. The launch in both markets is expected to take place later this year and will be supplemented in the future by other ophthalmic products, both diagnostic and therapeutic, that the Company plans to acquire or in-license.

Jason Menzo has been appointed Director of Marketing for NicOx Inc. Mr. Menzo will be responsible for leading the overall marketing strategy, including product positioning, branding, messaging and support for the sales team to enable maximum brand equity. Mr. Menzo has a 15-year track record in sales, marketing, training and operations. In his most recent role, Mr. Menzo was Senior Brand Manager for the PureVision® portfolio of contact lenses at Bausch + Lomb. Previously, he was Associate Director of Marketing at Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an ophthalmic-focused company acquired by Merck & Co. in May 2011. In that role, he led the marketing of AzaSite®, Elestat®, and co-promotion activities for Restasis®. He also played an integral role in ophthalmic business development product evaluations and assessments.

Mark Puwal has been appointed National Director of Sales for NicOx, Inc. and will lead the new sales organization in the US. Mr. Puwal has 19 years of pharmaceutical and medical device management and leadership experience in direct sales, sales management, commercial training and development, and managed markets. Before joining NicOx, he was Regional Sales Director at Regenesis Biomedical. Prior to that, he was National Sales Director at Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he was directly involved in the build out of the ophthalmic sales organization to 100 Territory Managers and Regional Directors. Mr. Puwal and his team successfully launched the ophthalmic products Elestat® and AzaSite® and played an integral role in the successful co- promotion campaign for Restasis®, resulting in seven consecutive years of double digit revenue growth to $125 million before Inspire was acquired by Merck & Co in May 2011.

Jason Werner has been appointed Director of Commercial Development & Strategic Alliances for NicOx Inc. Mr. Werner will oversee the strategic planning and commercial development of current and future products. Mr. Werner brings over 12 years of commercial strategy and global market development experience in life sciences and technology. In his most recent role at Wipro Limited as Industry Principal, he led the Global Domain Consulting Practice in the Life Sciences Division, focused on commercial solutions. Prior to Wipro, Mr. Werner was Associate Director, Strategic Product Planning, at Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he led global commercial planning for the cystic fibrosis franchise. In addition, Mr. Werner held positions in sales and marketing for Inspire's entry into the ophthalmic arena.

"I am very pleased to welcome Jason Menzo, Mark Puwal and Jason Werner to our team in the US and I am confident that their expertise will be instrumental in helping NicOx's development into an international specialty ophthalmic company," said Jerry St. Peter, Executive Vice President and General Manager of NicOx Inc. "This is a crucial time for NicOx as we prepare our commercial infrastructure in the United States for the launch of our first product, AdenoPlus™, by the end of the year. These appointments will also greatly enhance our ability to identify and acquire additional ophthalmic products in the US, which will allow us to fully leverage our future specialized sales force."

NOTE: AzaSite® is a registered trademark of InSite Vision Inc. and is licensed to Merck and Company; Elestat® is a registered trademark of Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH and is licensed to Allergan, Inc.; PureVision® is a registered trademark of Bausch + Lomb and Restasis® is a registered trademark of Allergan, Inc.

About NicOx

NicOx (Bloomberg: COX:FP, Reuters: NCOX.PA) is creating an international, late- stage development and commercial ophthalmology group based around therapeutics, diagnostics and devices.

NicOx has in-licensed innovative ocular diagnostics from RPS®, including AdenoPlus™, a test for the detection of adenoviral conjunctivitis already authorized for marketing in the United States and Europe. The Company has a partnership with Bausch + Lomb for the development of BOL-303259-X, a novel glaucoma candidate based on NicOx's proprietary nitric oxide- donating R&D platform.

Further nitric oxide-donating compounds are under development in non- ophthalmology indications notably through partners, including Merck (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada) and Ferrer.

NicOx S.A. is headquartered in France and is listed on Euronext Paris (Compartment C: Small Caps).

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, these forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements.

Risks factors which are likely to have a material effect on NicOx's business are presented in the 4(th) chapter of the « Document de référence, rapport financier annuel et rapport de gestion 2011 » filed with the French Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) on February 29, 2012 and available on NicOx's website (www.nicox.com) and on the AMF's website (www.amf-france.org).

NicOx strengthens US commercial team: http://hugin.info/143509/R/1636427/525849.pdf

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Source: NICOX via Thomson Reuters ONE

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