September 2011

Allergan Inc. has moved its eyelash treatment into the second clinical stage of testing as a therapy for baldness and expects to see data by the middle of next year, Chief Executive Officer David Pyott said.

The product, Latisse, was approved in 2008 to aid in eyelash growth, and generated $82 million last year for the Irvine, California-based company. Allergan is currently testing Latisse for men and women against placebo. U.S. regulators generally require three stages of trials before approval.

The tests follow a business model Allergan successfully implemented with Botox, its top-selling product with $1.42 billion in revenue last year. Initially approved for therapeutic uses in 1989, Botox’s wrinkle-smoothing properties were identified as a side effect. The product was then cleared in 2002 as an injection to smooth frown lines between the brows. Latisse is a version of Allergan’s glaucoma drug Lumigan, which was found to stimulate lash growth as a side effect of therapeutic treatment.

“The docs used to start laughing, because there are patients luckily that only have glaucoma in one eye and so they’d come in and say, ‘Doc I’ve got these beautiful eyelashes over here, what should I do?’” Pyott said today during an interview in New York. Now, for baldness, “We know anecdotally it works. The question is, how well does it work?”

Allergan declined 39 cents, or less than 1 percent, to $78.18 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have gained 14 percent this year.

 

Added Sales

Latisse may gain up to an additional $200 million to $500 million in annual sales by 2020 if it’s proven to spur hair growth, estimated Ronny Gal, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York. The product is designed to work similarly to other hair-loss therapies such as Johnson & Johnson’s Rogaine, said Gal, who recommends buying Allergan shares.

“It will grow hair from the existing follicle, and help you maintain the hair you’ve got,” Gal said in a telephone interview today. “It’s clear it works in principle, because we know it grows eyebrows and we know it grows lashes.”

Allergan won approval last month for the use of Botox as a therapy for urinary incontinence, and in October as a treatment for chronic migraine headaches. The company estimates the product will produce $1.55 billion to $1.59 billion in revenue this year, and foresees about $100 million in sales from Latisse.

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