AbbVie gets final EU approval for Allergan acquisition

As part of US biopharma major AbbVie’s (NYSE: ABBV) $6.3 billion acquisition of Ireland-incorporated Allergan (NYSE: AGN) announced last year, the European Commission has approved the divestiture of brazikumab, an investigational interleukin (IL)-23 inhibitor in development for autoimmune diseases, to AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN).

The candidate was licensed to Allergan by the Anglo-Swedish pharma major in 2016,  under a potential $1.27 billion deal.

The European Commission's approval of AbbVie's pending acquisition of Allergan in January was conditional upon the divestiture of brazikumab to a suitable purchaser. The transaction remains subject to additional customary closing conditions, but the European Commission's final approval clears the pathway in Europe to close the pending transaction.