Allergan Acquires RetroSense Therapeutics

Allergan (Dublin, Ireland) has acquired substantially all of the assets of RetroSense Therapeutics LLC (Ann Arbor, MI), a biotech focused on novel gene therapy approaches to restore vision in patients suffering from blindness, in an all-cash transaction.   Under the terms of the transaction, Allergan has paid RetroSense a $60 million upfront payment, and has agreed to potential regulatory and commercialization milestone payments related to its lead development program, RST-001, a novel gene therapy for the potential treatment of Retinitis Pigmentosa.   Retinitis Pigmentosa is a group of rare, inherited genetic disorders characterized by progressive peripheral vision loss and night vision difficulties followed by blindness in many cases. Approximately 100,000 people living in the US and 14 to 33 per 100,000 people worldwide have the disorder.