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DUBLIN, Ireland — Chalk up three acquisitions for Allergan plc in less than a week.
On Tuesday, Allergan said it plans to purchase clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Tobira Therapeutics Inc. in an agreement valued at up to $1.695 billion. South San Francisco-based Tobira focuses on the development and commercialization of therapies for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and other liver diseases.
Allergan CEO Brent Saunders
The deal would add Cenicriviroc (CVC) and Evogliptin — two complementary development programs for the treatment of the multi-factorial elements of NASH, including inflammation, metabolic syndromes and fibrosis — to Allergan’s global gastroenterology R&D pipeline.
Later on Tuesday, Allergan unveiled a deal to buy Akarna Therapeutics Ltd., a developer of novel, small-molecule therapeutics for inflammatory and fibrotic diseases, for an up-front payment of $50 million, subject to certain adjustments plus potential clinical, regulatory and commercial milestone payments related to its lead development compound, AKN-083.
The acquisition of Akarna, which has offices in Cambridge, England, and San Diego, also includes a portfolio of additional development-stage FXR compounds.
Allergan noted that AKN-083 is a potentially best-in-class preclinical farnesoid X receptor (FXR) agonist in development for the treatment of NASH and is highly complementary to Tobira’s CVC and Evogliptin.
The purchases of Tobira and Akarna follow a $639 million cash deal to buy clinical-stage dermatology specialist Vitae Pharmaceuticals Inc. that Allergan announced last Thursday.
“The acquisition of Tobira is a strategic R&D investment within a white space area of our global gastroenterology franchise and an opportunity to advance the development of novel treatments for NASH,” stated Allergan president and chief executive officer Brent Saunders. “With the increasing rates of diabetes, obesity and other metabolic conditions in the U.S. and in developed nations globally, NASH is set to become one of the next epidemic-level chronic diseases we face as a society. It is important that we invest in new treatments today so that health care systems, providers and patients have treatment options to face this challenge in the coming years.”
“With this acquisition, Allergan will now have one of the strongest portfolios of development stage programs for the treatment of NASH, with Cenicriviroc as the cornerstone,” he added. “We will continue to look for differentiated development-stage assets that can bolster this position and enhance our commitment to innovation in this disease.”
NASH is a severe type of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) characterized by the accumulation of fat in the liver with no other apparent causes. The inflammation can lead to scarring of the liver and progress to cirrhosis, portal hypertension, liver cancer and liver failure. NAFLD and NASH affect about 30% and 5%, respectively, of the U.S. population, Allergan repoted.
“The acquisition of Akarna adds to our strategic approach to investing in innovation to advance the treatment of NASH for millions of patients who currently do not have therapeutic options to treat the disease,” Sanders commented. “We look forward to advancing this unique compound into later stages of development and to advancing our overall portfolio of NASH programs, as we focus on bringing forward effective treatments for this critical disease area.”
