Want a bargain? Allergan could be a good one, provided it's willing to make a deal. As Bloomberg reports, the stock's recent woes have made Allergan $9.6 billion cheaper. And the company offers plenty of cash flow to help refill Big Pharma's coffers.
Allergan ($AGN) has been suffering on worries that its dry-eye treatment Restasis will get early generic competition. Plus, the company bagged plans for late-stage research on two new drugs--a macular degeneration treatment and a baldness remedy--after they fell short in current trials. The stock is down 28% from a high in April, Bloomberg notes.
Still, Allergan boasts some strong drugs, and bigger pharma companies are hungry for revenues after losing blockbuster products to the patent cliff. There's Botox, naturally, which brought in $1.77 billion in 2012 and could build to $3 billion by 2017 with the help of some new indications in development. As BMO analyst David Maris told Bloomberg, "Botox has a little bit of competition, but really it's the Scotch tape of toxins."
Meanwhile, Lumigan, a line of glaucoma treatments, generated $622.6 million last year, while Allergan's Alphagan glaucoma products made $453 million. Total revenue: $5.8 billion. "If you're a large pharma and you're looking for steady, growing franchises, Allergan has several of them," Maris said, adding that he sees Allergan as a fit for "a number of companies."
Allergan wouldn't comment, saying it doesn't talk about its business development activities. Bloomberg notes that GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) was reportedly on Allergan's trail a few years ago. Then there's Nestlé, which might want to combine Allergan with Galderma, a dermatology company in which it owns a 50% interest. And then there's Merck ($MRK), which is interested in eye care. But at $25 billion in market value, Allergan would be a big deal to swallow.
- read the Bloomberg analysis
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