Allergan to acquire gastrointestinal disease specialist Motus Therapeutics

Allergan has agreed a deal to purchase Motus Therapeutics from its current parent company Rhythm Holding Company.

The company has decided to exercise its option to purchase Motus, a biopharmaceutical company developing peptide therapeutics for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders, based on the progress made on the development of a promising new treatment.

Topline results have been announced from a phase IIb clinical trial assessing the efficacy and safety of relamorelin, Motus' ghrelin agonist, showing its effectiveness in the treatment of gastroparesis in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Motus' drug demonstrated substantial efficacy in treating the key diabetic gastroparesis symptoms of nausea, postprandial fullness, abdominal pain and bloating, along with a potent prokinetic effect on gastric motility.

Allergan has therefore chosen to pay the exercise price of $200 million (164.28 million pounds) on its option to acquire Motus and now plans to take relamorelin into the phase III development stage.

David Nicholson, executive vice-president of global research and development for Allergan, said: "We very much look forward to sharing this phase IIb data with the US Food and Drug Administration and to discussing our plans to conduct phase III trials."

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