Forest Laboratories, a subsidiary of Actavis, has successfully completed its acquisition of Furiex Pharmaceuticals in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.1 billion, and up to approximately $360 million in a Contingent Value Right (CVR) that may be payable based on the status of eluxadoline, Furiex's lead product, as a controlled drug following approval.

Brent Saunders, CEO and president of Actavis, said, "Furiex's lead development product eluxadoline is a natural extension to our gastrointestinal (GI) business, complementing our Linzess, Asacol and Delzicol franchises, as well as the products acquired as part of the acquisition of Aptalis earlier this year. If approved, eluxadoline could represent a significant advance in the treatment of diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D), and would give Actavis one of the broadest product offerings for the $38 billion GI disease market."

Eluxadoline is a first-in-class, locally-acting mu opioid receptor agonist and delta opioid receptor antagonist for treating symptoms of, a condition that affects approximately 28 million patients in the U.S. and Europe. In February, Furiex announced top-line results indicating the company's two pivotal phase III clinical trials evaluating the efficacy and safety of eluxadoline in the treatment of IBS-D met both the FDA and the EMA formally agreed-upon primary endpoints of composite response based on simultaneous improvements in stool consistency and abdominal pain. Actavis expects to be in a position to announce an acceptance for filing of the NDA for eluxadoline by the end of the third quarter of 2014.