Allergan To Buy Bonti For Upfront Payment Of $195 Mln & Addl Milestone Payments

(RTTNews) - Allergan plc (AGN) said that it has agreed to acquire Bonti Inc. for an upfront payment of $195 million and additional potential commercial milestone payments, subject to certain adjustments and other customary closing conditions.

Bonti is a privately held clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of novel, fast-acting neurotoxin programs for aesthetic and therapeutic applications.

Following completion of the acquisition, Allergan will obtain global rights to Bonti's pipeline consisting of two botulinum neurotoxin serotype E (BoNT/E) programs currently in Phase 2 development, EB-001A (aesthetic) and EB-001T (therapeutic). The active ingredient in both programs, EB-001, is a novel botulinum neurotoxin serotype E (BoNT/E) with a unique clinical profile, characterized by a rapid onset of action within 24 hours and a 2 to 4-week duration of effect.

Bonti recently announced topline results of the first clinical study of EB-001 in glabellar frown lines. The study confirmed both the safety and efficacy of the differentiated profile.

In the U.S. there are currently approximately 65 million consumers who are considering facial injectable treatments, including some who may be interested in being treated with a faster acting shorter-duration product.