HONG KONG, Jun 8, 2026 - (ACN Newswire) - Everest Medicines (HKEX 1952.HK) announced that it has entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement with Corxel Pharmaceuticals (“CORXEL”). Under the agreement, Everest has acquired the rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize LNZ100 (1.44% aceclidine, U.S. brand name VIZZ) in Greater China, including Chinese mainland, Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, and Taiwan region. Everest will pay an upfront payment and potential development milestone payments. As part of this agreement, Everest will be assigned and transferred the rights and obligations under the LENZ License Agreement entered into by CORXEL in April 2022 and certain related ancillary agreements. This transaction is expected to further expand the Company’s innovative product portfolio, strengthen its presence in ophthalmology, and enhance overall strategic synergies across its business.

LNZ100 is a once-daily prescription eye drop indicated for the treatment of presbyopia. Its active ingredient, aceclidine, is a small molecule acetylcholine receptor agonist that causes pupil contraction, or miosis, creating a pinhole effect that improves near vision. Studies have shown that aceclidine's mechanism of action (MOA) is well positioned to create a pinhole pupil effect while avoiding the impairment of distance vision called myopic shift. Aceclidine's unique pupil selective MOA, in which miosis is decoupled from myopic shift, is expected to allow it to target a broad patient population.

According to publicly available information, LNZ100 received approval in the United States in July 2025 and was commercially launched in October of the same year. In China, the New Drug Application (NDA) for LNZ100 was submitted in September 2025, with approval expected in the first quarter of 2027. The therapy has the potential to address a significant unmet medical need in China and position itself as a best-in-class, non-invasive treatment option for presbyopia.

“The acquisition of LNZ100 represents an important step in advancing Everest’s strategic focus in ophthalmology. LNZ100 is a differentiated asset with meaningful clinical value and strong commercial potential in the treatment of presbyopia,” said Yifang Wu, Chairman of the Board of Everest Medicines. “As the presbyopia patient population continues to grow, significant unmet needs remain in non-invasive treatment options. We believe LNZ100 has the potential to offer patients a novel, non-invasive therapeutic option and to further broaden the landscape of innovative ophthalmic treatments. The product has already been approved in the United States and is currently under regulatory review in China. We will continue to advance its development and commercialization to make this therapy accessible to presbyopia patients.”

Ms. Sandy Mou, Board Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of CORXEL, said: “We are confident that Everest Medicines’ strong commercialization capabilities will accelerate LNZ100’s market access and bring this innovative treatment to more presbyopia patients in China. Following this transaction, CORXEL’s pipeline will be entirely focused on cardiometabolic therapies. The proceeds from the transaction will enable CORXEL to accelerate the global clinical development of its innovative cardiometabolic pipeline.”

Presbyopia is a physiological phenomenon associated with aging that results in a progressively worsening ability to see nearby objects clearly. It is caused by the gradual hardening of the lens. This results in a decline of the eye’s adjustment function, and the inability to focus the image of nearby objects on the retina, leading to a decline in near vision. Studies have shown that the onset of presbyopia typically occurs around the age of 38, reaching a prevalence rate of nearly 100 percent at the age of 52 in China. Currently, the treatment options for presbyopia are very limited. Wearing glasses requires frequent removal and insertion, causing many inconveniences in work and life. Surgery, as an irreversible and invasive operation, has very limited acceptance. There are no approved drugs for the treatment of presbyopia in China and the medical need for non-invasive, safe, efficient and reversible treatments for presbyopia remains unsolved.

The NDA acceptance of LNZ100 by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) of the People’s Republic of China is based on the data from China Phase 3 Trial. The study was a Phase 3, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, vehicle-controlled study, including a 4-week efficacy study followed by a 6-month extension safety study, designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of LNZ100 (an aceclidine-based ophthalmic solution) in participants with presbyopia. The objectives were to assess the potential of LNZ100 to improve near vision among Chinese presbyopia patients and to evaluate the efficacy and safety profiles. The trial has enrolled 300 participants.

The results showed that LNZ100 achieved the primary endpoint and key secondary endpoints, with statistically significant three-lines or greater improvement in Best Corrected Distance Visual Acuity (BCDVA) at near, and maintaining their optimal distance visual acuity (i.e., not losing 5 or more letters). Results also showed (all p<0.0001) a rapid onset of action, with 84% and 69% of participants achieving two-line and three-line or greater improvements, respectively, within 30 minutes of administration. The effect was also durable, with 61% and 30% of participants continuing to achieve two-line and three-line or greater improvements, respectively, at 10 hours. In addition, LNZ100 was well tolerated, and no serious treatment-related adverse events were observed in the trial.

In recent years, Everest has built a proven platform for the commercialization of innovative medicines, integrating scientific and commercial insights with coordinated access, medical, marketing, and sales (A2MS). As multiple innovative products have entered the commercialization stage, the platform’s scale and synergy effects continue to strengthen. Against this backdrop, the acquisition of late-stage assets with clear clinical value and commercial potential has become an important approach for Everest to enrich its product portfolio and expand future growth opportunities. The acquisition of Greater China rights to LNZ100 further strengthens Everest Medicines’ presence in the ophthalmology and is expected to generate synergies with its existing commercialization infrastructure, supporting the continued realization of the asset’s commercial value.

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