Allergan licenses promising migraine therapies from Merck Sharp and Dohme

Allergan has licensed a pair of promising investigational migraine therapies from Merck Sharp and Dohme through an exclusive worldwide agreement.

The deal sees Allergan acquire global rights to the small molecule oral calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonists MK-1602 and MK-8031, which are being developed for the treatment and prevention of migraine.

A phase II study of MK-1602 has been completed, with phase III trials expected to begin in 2016, alongside phase II trials of MK-8031. Neither compound has shown evidence of the same liver toxicity associated with Merck's earlier oral CGRP antagonist project Telcagepant, also known as MK-0974.

Allergan will acquire these rights for an upfront fee of $250 million (162.28 million pounds).

David Nicholson, executive vice-president of global brands research and development at Allergan, said: "We look forward to supporting the continued development of these programmes and to potentially bringing these new therapies to market."

This comes after the firm agreed a deal to acquire Oculeve, a developer of novel treatments for dry eye disease, earlier this week.