Irvine’s Allergan Inc. said Tuesday that it is spending up to $275 million to buy a skin drug maker.
Allergan will pay $75 million for Malvern, Pa.-based Vicept Therapeutics, with up to $200 million in additional milestone payments.
Vicept is developing a cream for treating redness associated with rosacea, a skin condition that leads to redness on the face. The company, founded in 2009, is backed by Palo Alto-based Vivo Ventures, Fidelity Biosciences of Cambridge, Mass., and France’s Sofinnova Ventures.
V-101, Vicept’s cream, is in mid-stage clinical trials. Vicept also has two other products in very early stages of development.
Getting Vicept enhances Allergan’s dermatology research and development pipeline, said Scott Whitcup, the company’s executive vice president and chief scientific officer.
