Allergan makes $85m move for Topokine and under-eye bag drug
Allergan is still on the acquisition trail following its failed merger with Pfizer, spending $85 million to acquire privately-held Topokine Therapeutics and its late-stage product for under-eye bags.
The Dublin-based pharma company has already signed a $3.3 billion R&D partnership with Heptares following the collapse of its merger with Pfizer earlier this month.
Now the highly-acquisitive Allergan has snapped up Topokine for an upfront payment of $85 million, plus undisclosed sales and development milestone payments for XAF5, a first-in-class topical agent in late-stage development for steatoblepharon, also known as under-eye bags.
Applied to the lower eyelids once nightly, XAF5 penetrates the skin and acts pharmacologically on fat cells to shrink under-eye bags.
Following a successful phase 2 trial, Topokine begun a pivotal phase 2b/3 study of XAF5 in January 2016.
The deal makes sense for Botox-maker Allergan, which already has a strong presence in the market for medical and facial aesthetics.
Topokine's CEO, Murat Kalayoglu, said that this made Allergan "ideally suited to continue the successful development and maximise the potential commercialisation of XAF5."
An estimated 40 million Americans have the condition, which can make the face look older, tired, stressed or sad, Allergan noted in a statement.
Related stories:
The marriage of convenience is off - Allergan moves on, but is Pfizer on the rebound?
