CORRECT: Allergan To Help Sell Map Pharma's Migraine Treatment
January 31 2011 - 1:40PM
Dow Jones News
Botox-maker Allergan Inc. (AGN) has agreed to pay Map
Pharmaceuticals Inc. (MAPP) up to $157 million to access the latter
company's experimental migraine treatment Levadex, which the
companies will jointly promote to U.S. specialists.
Allergan will pay Map $60 million up front and up to $97 million
more when certain milestones are reached, and the companies will
share profits from sales to U.S. neurologists and pain specialists.
The deal doesn't cover sales to U.S. primary care doctors or
international sales, for which Map could also seek a partner.
The deal gives Allergan access to another treatment for migraine
headaches to compliment the injectable neurotoxin Botox, but for a
different, potentially market-expanding patient population.
Allergan won U.S. approval last year to sell Botox as a migraine
treatment. For Map, a development-stage company trying to get its
main product to market, the deal creates access to an established
sales force.
The Map product uses an inhaler to deliver an existing migraine
drug when needed for at-home treatment. The company plans to file a
U.S. application in the first half this year.
Allergan "will help us broaden our commercial reach" once
Levadex is approved, Map Chief Executive Timothy Nelson said on a
conference call Monday.
Still, shares of the Mountain View, Calif., company recently
traded down 4% to $14.88. A question was raised on the call about
why Map brought on Allergan rather than a bigger drug company that
could also promote Levadex to U.S. primary care physicians as well
as doctors overseas.
Nelson said that is still possible. "This was a very competitive
process," he told analysts. "As we move forward we'll continue to
explore those partnerships and interested parties" for other
markets, he said.
Allergan, he added, was the best first partner for Map. As to
whether Allergan might seek an extended partnership, an Allergan
spokeswoman said the company is focused on the first prescribers in
this market--headache specialists--and won't comment on further
plans outside that segment at this point.
Analysts said the deal makes sense for Allergan. The Irvine,
Calif., company sells Botox as a treatment for frequent chronic
migraines, while Map is pursuing the market for less frequent acute
migraines, or those that hit two to eight times per month. "We view
this deal as a strategic positive" for Allergan, Wells Fargo
analyst Larry Biegelsen said in a note to clients. He said the
filing timeline suggests Food and Drug Administration approval is
likely early next year.
Allergan shares recently traded up 1% to $69.77.
Nelson said Map will co-promote Levadex with 50 of its own sales
representatives. He declined to disclose details regarding the size
of Allergan's migraine sales force, and Allergan's spokeswoman said
the company doesn't comment on that for competitive reasons.
Levadex is backed by a late-stage study that included nearly 800
patients and showed benefits at reducing migraine symptoms after
two hours compared with a placebo, or fake, treatment. Common side
effects included a medication aftertaste and nausea, Map said.
Allergan and Map also agreed to jointly develop Levadex for
additional treatments, including adolescent migraines and an
additional headache disorder.
-By Jon Kamp, Dow Jones Newswires; 617-654-6728;
jon.kamp@dowjones.com
-Matt Jarzemsky contributed to this article
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