Allergan completes Naurex acquisition

DUBLIN — Allergan announced Monday that it had completed its $560 million acquisition of neuropharmaceutical company Naurex. With Naurex, Allergan potentially expands its development of mental health treatments, as the acquired company’s focus is on developing therapies for brain and nervous system disorders like depression. 

 

"The acquisition of Naurex enhances our ability to be among the leaders in the development of novel, game-changing therapies in mental health,” Allergan CEO and president Brent Saunders said. “This is an area of medicine that requires new ways to tackle some of society's most challenging diseases and disorders.”

 

Naurex’s development pipeline includes two potential treatments for major depressive disorder (MDD), rapastinel, an intravenous molecule that could be used weekly, and NRX-1074, another intravenous molecule that could also be an oral drug. Both are currently undergoing clinical trials. 

 

“The growing number of unregulated clinics to treat severe depression with off-label medicines is indicative of the desperate need for new treatment options for patients with depression,” Saunders said. “We have geared up to advance the development of these compounds into the next phase of clinical trials.”