Dive Brief:
- Allergan said Thursday it has acquired ForSight VISION5, a privately-held biotech company, broadening its portfolio of eye care products.
- The motivation behind the acquisition was ForSight's lead program, a peri-ocular ring meant to extended drug delivery and reduce elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) in glaucoma patients.
- Allergan will pay $95 million upfront, in addition to undisclosed launch milestones. The transaction is expected to close within 60 days.
Dive Insight:
Allergan is adding to its eye care portfolio with a small acquisition that will help bolster the offerings it already has from its eye-care business, headlined by the dry-eye drug Restasis.
Eye care is the company's largest business, bringing in $636 million of Allergan's $3.7 billion in total revenues last quarter.
"The acquisition of ForSight and its ocular ring technology builds on Allergan's rich history and deep commitment to eye care innovation," said Allergan President and CEO Brent Saunders.
Despite industry speculation Allergan would use the $33 billion in cash it received from its Teva deal to buy Biogen, Saunders made it clear during a recent investor call Allergan is not in the market for a major acquisition. The CEO clarified that small bolt-on deals – like the one announced Thursday – would be of greater interest to the company right now.
Due to its slew of deal-making over the last several years, Allergan was once one of the most highly-leveraged companies in the business. However, the company has been using funds from recent sales to pay down its debt and has taken more than $9 billion off its balance sheet in recent months.