Allergan, a Dublin-based global pharmaceutical company, has completed the acquisition of Oculeve, a development-stage medical device company focused on developing novel treatments for dry-eye disease. Allergan acquired Oculeve for a $125 million upfront payment and commercialization milestone payments related to Oculeve’s lead development program, OD-01. The agreement also includes the acquisition of an additional earlier-stage dry-eye device development program.

The acquisition of Oculeve adds novel, complementary dry-eye development programs to Allergan’s current eye care R&D programs, including OD-01, a non-invasive nasal neurostimulation device that increases tear production in patients with dry-eye disease. Oculeve has completed four clinical studies of OD-01 to date in more than 200 patients, showing positive safety and efficacy of the device. Allergan plans to conduct two additional pivotal trials prior to FDA submission, which is expected in 2016 with potential commercial launch in 2017.

Chronic dry eye is a disease that can be caused by advanced age, contact lens wear, certain medications, eye diseases, other medical conditions or environmental factors. One type of chronic dry eye is caused by decreased tear production due to inflammation. Without enough tears, the film protecting the eye can break down, creating dry spots on the cornea. Chronic dry eye is estimated to affect 25 million patients in the U.S.