Allergan Steps Up Acquistions

Allergan will get rights to Merck’s small-molecule oral calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonists. These include MK-1602, or ubrogepant, which has completed Phase II clinical trials for acute treatment of migraines. A Phase III study is expected in 2016. A second molecule, MK-8031, aimed at preventing migraines, is expected to begin a Phase II study in 2016.

Merck decided to stop clinical development of the CGRP antagonist MK-0974 (telcagepant) in 2011 because of liver toxicity problems. Merck says the two compounds going to Allergan “belong to a different chemical series than telcagepant” and “to date have not shown evidence of liver toxicity.”

Why Merck is divesting the compounds rather than advancing them itself isn’t clear to Evercore ISI stock analyst Umer Raffat. The firm stopped work on MK-1602 after completing clinical trials in 2012 and hasn’t published the clinical data. If the compounds do work, annual sales could exceed $2 billion, Raffat estimates, with Merck to get milestone payments and royalties.

Last week, Allergan also agreed to pay $125 million to acquire California-based Oculeve, a developer of dry-eye disease treatments. And in mid-June, Allergan struck a $2.1 billion deal to buy aesthetic medicine maker Kythera Biopharmaceuticals.