Allergan agrees to buy Merck’s two migraine drugs

The deal is subject to expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (HSR).

Allergan will buy these rights for an upfront payment of $250m, of which $125m is payable upon HSR clearance and $125m payable in April next year.

Merck will also receive milestone and royalty payments based on commercialization of the two CGRP receptor antagonists.

The deal will see Allergan fully responsible for development of the CGRP programs, as well as manufacturing and commercialization upon approval and launch of the products.

The two CGRP receptor antagonists include MK-1602 and MK-8031, oral small molecule antagonists for the acute treatment and prevention of migraines, respectively.

Allergan Global Brands Research and Development executive vice-president David Nicholson said: "With two novel oral therapies in development for treating and preventing migraines, we have the opportunity to provide therapies that could alleviate an intensely debilitating and immobilizing condition for patients worldwide.

"We look forward to supporting the continued development of these programs and to potentially bringing these new therapies to market."

In July 2011, Merck discontinued clinical development of an earlier investigational oral CGRP antagonist, Telcagepant (MK-0974), after some patients showed evidence of liver toxicity.

The company said that MK-1602 and MK-8031 molecules belong to a different chemical series than Telcagepant, and have not shown evidence of liver toxicity to date in clinical trials.

Allergan now intends to begin a Phase III study of MK-1602 and a Phase II trial of MK-8031 in 2016.