Nadine Dilong Irish pharmaceutical juggernaut Allergan has acquired biotech company Elastagen, spending a whopping $120 Mio upfront payment plus contingent.
Elastagen is a startup born at University of Sydney with its science based around human tropoelastin, which is similar to elastin – a crucial component of youthful skin. Elastagen have developed a synthetic version of the elastin protein which is identical to that naturally present in the human body, opening up a variety of uses in the aesthetics industry.
According to Elastagen, their product aids in fixing stretch marks, improving acne scars, and wound repair, and has already expanded beyond Aussie shores to Europe and the UK, but with Allergan’s acquisition, a whole new world of possibilities seems to have opened up.
“Our Juvederm collection of fillers has sales of over $1 billion globally and is one of the fastest growing parts of our Aesthetics business,” said Bill Meury, Chief Commercial Officer at Allergan.
“This acquisition and the development of a next generation of injectables based on this technology will ensure Allergan offers innovative filler products for years to come.”
Elastagen CEO, Robert Daniels, said “partnering with Allergan, a leader in medical aesthetics, is incredibly exciting. I thank the Elastagen team for their hard work and dedication in developing our innovative tropoelastin product pipeline and look forward to working with Allergan to take these products to market.”
Allergan’s Juvederm is the US’s number one best-selling filler range, with products including five different hyaluronic acid based fillers. The acquisition of Elastagen could mean exciting new filler products that can potentially not only build up or restore volume, but have skin rejuvenating qualities as well.
This is Allergan’s second multi-million dollar deal in less than 12 months, after having taken over Zeltic’s CoolSculpting technology in February 2017.
