Allergan Twists and Turns

It's getting nasty over at Allergan. They're still trying to fight off a takeover attempt by Valeant, making the case that the company's R&D efforts are not a waste of money (which, only slightly simplified, is the Valeant position regarding every company they're taking over). But Allergan's had a lot of trouble getting one of their drugs (Semprana) through the FDA. Semprana is an inhaled version of the classic dihydroergotamine therapy for migraine, and had been rejected last year when it was still known as Levadex. The recent further delay isn't helping Allergan make its case, and Valeant is using this news to peel off some more shareholders. This morning comes word that Allergan is cutting back staff. That Fierce Biotech report says that it looks like a lot of the cuts will be hitting discovery R&D, which makes you wonder if Allergan will manage to escape Valeant's grip only by becoming what Valeant wanted to make them.
Source: In the Pipeline - Category: Chemists Tags: Business and Markets Source Type: blogs