Allergan Inc and Concurrent Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company, announced that Concurrent has agreed to acquire certain rights to Allergan's pre-clinical programs and broad research portfolio in retinoid and rexinoid nuclear receptor compounds.

The clinical assets and compounds included in this transaction include near-clinical compounds and are primarily derived from Allergan's retinoid program, which Allergan has pursued since 1988.

This transaction will provide Concurrent with a portfolio of development compounds and near-clinical candidates, and will fortify a discovery engine with the potential to create a pipeline of product leads and follow-on programs.

Under the terms of the transaction, Allergan will receive equity in Concurrent, as well as future milestone and royalty payments. Concurrent's board of directors will be expanded to add a representative designated by Allergan.

"Concurrent now has multiple product candidates entering clinical development and we aim to have two compounds with validating clinical data within 18 to 24 months," said Jeffrey Hatfield, Concurrent's chief executive officer. "The acquisition of the highly regarded retinoid program from Allergan provides a unique opportunity to accelerate Concurrent's drug development activities, expand our product pipeline and strengthen our research capabilities."

Augmenting Concurrent's existing lead drug discovery program in renin inhibitors for cardiovascular diseases, the retinoid program acquired from Allergan includes certain exclusive license rights in compounds in the areas of diabetes and cancer; and one dermatology compound.

In addition, Concurrent will gain certain exclusive license rights in a comprehensive patent estate of more than 900 issued and pending worldwide patents, and more than 15 programs available for internal or external development in a variety of therapeutic areas. The Allergan retinoid receptor research team that discovered Tazorac (tazarotene), currently one of the fastest growing acne products in the United States, will join Concurrent as part of the transaction. Allergan's Tazorac is not included in the transaction.