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Irvine Front and Center for Allergan R&D

Allergan PLC’s operations in Irvine appear poised to remain front and center in the drugmaker’s research and development endeavors.

The aesthetics and eye care lines of business—all centered in OC—make up more than 50% of its mid- to late-stage R&D projects as the company heads into 2016.

The drugmaker has only recently been through a $72.5 billion sale to Actavis PLC—which took on the Allergan name—and is currently subject to market buzz about a possible combination with New York-based Pfizer Inc.

It meanwhile has a tax-friendly headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operations based in Parsippany, N.J.

The emphasis on Irvine came during Allergan’s recent R&D Day, which brought executives, investors, analysts and members of the media to the company’s Dupont Drive campus.

The lineup of Allergan executives started at the top with Chief Executive Brent Saunders (see related story, page 7). Also on hand were David Nicholson, executive vice president for brand research and development; Bill Meury, executive vice president and president for branded pharma; and Philippe Schaison, executive vice president and president of aesthetic unit Allergan Medical.

A main message was the unveiling of the “Open Science” initiative, which calls for the drugmaker to team up with smaller biotechnology and specialty pharmaceutical companies and research universities for R&D opportunities, according to Saunders.

“Over the past 15 years, the pharmaceutical innovation ecosystem has shifted,” Saunders said. “Where global pharma companies had previously driven the lion’s share of new product revenue, now the driving source of innovation is coming from smaller biotechnology and specialty pharma companies, as well as academia.”

Products that come out of Allergan’s Irvine operation took a major role during presentations in the theater at the campus. Aesthetics and dermatology account for 21 of the company’s middle- and late-stage programs, while eye care accounts for another 17.

“We have a big pipeline,” Nicholson said.

One attention-getter was Kybella, Allergan’s newly approved treatment for reducing double chins. Allergan acquired Kybella through its $2.1 billion buy of Westlake Village-based Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc. earlier this year.

Nicholson said the drug has “pipeline in a product” potential á la Botox, which has been approved for numerous uses besides its initial cosmetic role as a wrinkle remover.

A graphic presented to the crowd in the theater showed that Kybella could be used to target small, localized fat areas on additional areas of the body, including the stomach, as well as for potential therapeutic uses to treat conditions such as obstructive sleep apnea.

“I hope you are all familiar with the concept of Botox as a ‘pipeline in a product,’ ” Nicholson said. “We will be evaluating Kybella for aesthetic uses. We’re getting our minds around it—we’re developing our life cycle management.”

Allergan also touted the earFold, a device for correcting prominent ears that it is getting through its newly announced deal for United Kingdom-based Northwood Medical Innovation Ltd.

EarFold is designed to replace otoplasty, a surgery that is the 10th-most performed cosmetic procedure and one that 70% of Allergan’s doctor customers perform. EarFold has European regulatory approval, and Allergan is developing a strategy to bring it to the Food and Drug Administration.

Other projects include Botox for treating forehead lines; various facial fillers; breast implants; products for reducing facial lines; and small molecule drugs, in dermatology, among others.

Schaison, who is based in Irvine, showed the range of one key aspect of Allergan’s efforts with a slide that featured Botox Cosmetic, eyelash grower Latisse, lower-face filler Juvéderm, midface filler Voluma XC, and Kybella as part of his presentation.

“We own the face,” he said.

Allergan highlighted projects for treating male pattern baldness—sepiprant, an oral drug, which came through the Kythera deal—and a topical formulation of bimatoprost, which is Latisse’s active ingredient.

“I think we have two shots on goal with bimatoprost and the Kythera product,” Schaison said.

Allergan’s middle- and late-stage R&D eye care products were also touched upon, including multidose, preservative-free forms of its Restasis dry-eye drug, and Ganfort for glaucoma; cyclosporine SR antibiotic for dry eye; and compounds for treating age-related macular degeneration.

“We’ve really filled out our eye pipeline,” Nicholson said.

Deals for Aliso Viejo-based AqueSys Inc., which brought Allergan the Xen stent for glaucoma treatment, and South San Francisco-based Oculeve Inc., which is focused on dry-eye treatment, were cited by Nicholson as part of the Open Science approach.

Allergan’s presentation drew approval from company founder Gavin Herbert, who was in attendance.

“The portfolio really looks good. It is quite similar to the old Allergan—your future as an independent company is wonderful,” Herbert said, drawing applause from the audience.

Market talk has suggested that Allergan would combine with Big Pharma stalwart and Viagra maker Pfizer—a subject that Allergan will not comment on.

Wall Street took note of the company’s R&D Day alongside the buzz about Pfizer.

“We found [Allergan’s] R&D day extremely impressive,” Corey Davis, an analyst with Vancouver-based Canaccord Genuity Group Inc., said in a note issued after the day. “We are more convinced than ever that it has a robust pipeline in its seven focused therapeutic areas, which is dramatically better than any of the predecessor companies.”

Allergan also discussed its development work for products that are in areas other than Irvine, including gastroenterology, the central nervous system, women’s health, urology and anti-infectives.

Botox is being studied in some of those contexts, such as premature ejaculation in urology and to treat major depressive disorder. It’s also being studied as a variant referred to by Allergan as “Botox X” for spasticity and multiple other indications.

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