Allergan (NYSE:AGN) said today that it has reached a deal to buy the exclusive worldwide rights to two of Merck & Co.’s (NYSE:MRK) experimental migraine drugs for an upfront payment of $250 million.
Allergan will pay out $125 million after it receives regulatory clearance and $125 million next April.
Merck will additionally be entitled to receive potential development and commercial milestone payments and tiered double-digit royalties based on commercialization of the programs.
Allergan expects to begin a phase 3 study for one of the oral drugs in 2016, while the company expects to begin a phase 2 study for the other next year.
Allergan said its 2015 earnings-per-share forecast provided on May 11, 2015 is unchanged as a result of the acquisition.
Allergan has been bulking up its portfolio through a string of deals recently.
Allergan said yesterday that it struck a deal to buy Oculeve, a maker of experimental dry-eye disease treatments, for an upfront payment of $125 million in cash.
That follows the Botox maker’s deal last month to buy Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc. and its newly approved double-chin treatment in a $2.1 billion deal that aims to plump up its lineup of cosmetic medicines.
For its part, Merck said the deal allows it to focus its resources on its therapeutic areas.
Merck rose 0.8 percent to $57.97 at 3:06 p.m. in New York.