Inside Allergan’s Developments in 2Q17
By Mike BensonJul. 13 2017, Published 5:33 p.m. ET
A look at Allergan
Allergan (AGN) is a US-based pharmaceuticals company that deals in over-the-counter products, eye care products, and aesthetics products.
Recent Developments
On June 27, 2017, Allergan launched its Refresh Optive Mega-3 artificial tear drops, which are formulated with flaxseed oil and castor oil and protect tears from evaporating while strengthening the lipid layer in patients with meibomian gland dysfunction.
On June 7, 2017, Allergan announced the acquisition of Keller Medical, a privately held medical device company. Keller Medical developed Keller Funnel, a cone-shaped lubricated plastic funnel used during breast augmentation or reconstruction.
On April 28, 2017, Allergan completed the acquisition of Zeltiq Aesthetics, a medical technology company, for ~$2.4 billion in cash. CoolSculpting is a proprietary controlled-cooling fat reducing treatment.
Other developments
On April 25, 2017, the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) granted marketing authorization to TrueTear Intranasal Tear Neurostimulator. The device is a handheld stimulator, and it is the first and only US FDA-cleared device used to increase the tear production during neurostimulation.
On April 20, 2017, Allergan collaborated with Target PharmaSolutions to advance the nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (or NASH) research. On April 18, 2017, Allergan entered into the clinical trial agreement with Novartis (NVS) for conducting the phase-2b study of the use of Allergan’s Cenicriviroc and Novartis’s lead FXR agonist for the treatment of NASH.
On April 5, 2017, Allergan announced data from its phase-2 study evaluating the safety, efficacy, and tolerability of Botox in patients with major depressive disorder.
Notably, the VanEck Vectors Biotech ETF (BBH) has 9.0% of its total assets in Allergan. BBH also has 11.7% in Gilead Sciences (GILD), 11.4% in Amgen (AMGN), and 10.6% in Celgene (CELG).
