Allergan to buy Tobira in push for NASH treatments

Last Updated: 2016-09-20

By Natalie Grover

(Reuters) - Allergan Plc said it would buy Tobira Therapeutics Inc in a deal worth up to $1.7 billion, about 19 times the company's current value, to get a leg up in the race to develop therapies for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

This is the latest in a string of deals orchestrated by Brent Saunders, Allergan's chief executive and a seasoned dealmaker.

There are no approved medicines for NASH. Other major contenders in the race to develop a drug to treat NASH include Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc and Genfit SA, who have drugs in late-stage development.

Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc's treatment is in mid-stage development.