Dive Brief:
- Allergan plc will acquire clinical-stage biotech Elastagen Pty Ltd. for $95 million upfront, picking up the Australian company's tissue repair platform in a deal announced Feb. 7.
- Elastagen's tropoelastin-based technology has potential in treating acne scars, stretch marks, aesthetic skin repair and wound repair, the company said. As such, Elastagen will fit neatly with Allergan's existing presence in medial aesthetics.
- Elastagen spun out from the University of Sydney, and has production bases in Europe and clinical operations in the U.K.
Dive Insight:
In the company's most recent earnings call, Allergan executives said the drugmaker would keep its focus on bolt-on deals rather major M&A. Company CEO Brent Saunders noted it would likely be a "boring year" for dealmaking.
Last week's pick up of Elastagen certainly falls under the category of bolt-on deals, complementing the drugmaker's existing Juvéderm dermal filler portfolio.
"Our Juvéderm collection of fillers has sales of over $1 billion globally and is one of the fastest growing parts of our aesthetics business," said Bill Meury, Allergan's chief commercial officer, in a statement released by Elastagen. "This acquisition and the development of a next generation of injectables based on this technology will ensure Allergan offers innovative filler products for years to come."
Elastagen's pipeline includes an injectable dermo-esthetic product in clinical proof-of-concept studies; a product for atrophic scars and stretch marks in clinical safety studies, and wound sealants and products for scar revision and wound healing in preclinical development.
Over the past two years, Allergan has spent a not insignificant amount of cash on further building out its medical aesthetics business. In late 2016, the Irish pharma bought regenerative medicine specialist Acelity L.P. for $2.9 billion. A $2.5 billion deal for Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc. followed two months later in February 2017, adding the smaller company's "CoolSculpting" platform.