Allergan licenses gastrointestinal programmes from Assembly Biosciences

Allergan has secured the worldwide rights to a number of microbiome gastrointestinal development programmes from Assembly Biosciences.

The research, development, collaboration and licence agreement provides Allergan with access to the preclinical compounds ABI-M201 and ABI-M301, which target ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, as well as two additional compounds to be identified by Assembly for irritable bowel syndromes.

Assembly's microbiome programme offers a fully integrated platform that includes a robust strain identification and selection process, methods for strain isolation and growth, and a system that allows for targeted oral delivery of therapies to the lower gastrointestinal tract.

Allergan will make an upfront payment to Assembly of $50 million (41.22 million pounds) for the rights to develop and commercialise these compounds, with Assembly also entitled to receive success-based development and commercial milestone payments, plus royalties.

David Nicholson, chief research and development officer at Allergan, said: "Assembly is well positioned to identify and select unique therapeutic candidates and deliver them to the optimal site in the gastrointestinal tract through a novel oral delivery system."

This aligns with Allergan's wider strategy of building its portfolio and research expertise through a policy of open collaboration.

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