Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN) shows no signs of slowing its acquisition pace this year, and just solidified its lead in therapeutics for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), an incurable disease affecting approximately 5% of the U.S. population. The pharma giant announced its acquisition of Tobira Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: TBRA), This transaction marks the company’s eighth in 2016, and $1.63 billion spent in upfront payments alone since January.
Tobira came with an upfront purchase price of $533.6 million, or $28.35 per share, and up to $49.84 per share in Contingent Value Rights that may be payable based on the successful completion of certain milestones, for a total consideration of up to $1.695 billion.
The acquisition adds Cenicriviroc (CVC) and Evogliptin, two differentiated, complementary development programs for the treatment of the multi-factorial elements of NASH, to Allergan’s gastroenterology R&D pipeline.
Tobira purchased the exclusive rights to market and develop Evogliptin and Cenicriviroc from Dong-A ST Co., Ltd in April 2016 for an upfront payment of $1.5 million and up to $70 million in additional payments linked to clinical Phase 3 achievements, approval milestones and commercial milestones, as well as tiered royalty payments on net sales.
Cenicriviroc is a first-in-class, once-daily, oral Phase 3-ready potent immunomodulator that blocks two chemokine receptors that cause liver damage and often lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer or liver failure. Evogliptin is an oral DPP-4 (Dipeptidyl peptidase-4) inhibitor for the potential treatment of NASH currently being studied in a Phase 1 trial assessing the safety and tolerability of the compound.