Serial M&A player Allergan now pounces on Akarna, and another NASH asset

Hot on the heels of its announced intention to acquire Tobira Therapeutics (Nasdaq: TBRA), Ireland-incorporated Allergan (NYSE: AGN) revealed it has acquired Akarna Therapeutics, a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel small molecule therapeutics that target inflammatory and fibrotic diseases,

In what now becomes Botox-maker Allergan’s seventh acquisition this year, the firm has made an up-front payment of $50 million, subject to certain adjustments, as well as potential clinical, regulatory and commercial milestone payments related to its lead development compound, AKN-083. In addition to AKN-083, the acquisition includes a portfolio of further development-stage FXR,

AKN-083 is a potentially best-in-class preclinical farnesoid X receptor (FXR) agonist in development for the treatment of NASH, and is highly complementary to compounds in development by Tobira, cenicriviroc (CVC) and evogliptin. Yesterday, Allergan announced plans to acquire Tobira in an up to $1.7 billion deal to gains rights to the two investigational compounds for the treatment of NASH and other liver diseases.