Allergan buys QLT acne gel Aczone for $150 million

Allergan Inc. said Monday that it would acquire QLT Inc.'s acne gel Aczone for $150 million.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter. Allergan expects peak sales of $75 million from Aczone.

The company is also maintaining its 2008 financial guidance, saying the deal won't dilute earnings per share.

Although Aczone was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2005, it was never launched by QLT because the product was restricted to patients who were screened to detect if they were predisposed to a type of anemia. In March, the agency lifted the screening requirement.

Allergan said it expects to launch Aczone in the fourth quarter.

In January, Vancouver, British Columbia-based QLT announced that as part of a restructuring, it would cut staff, sell its headquarters building and divest products from its US subsidiary, which includes Aczone, the prostate cancer hormone therapy Eligard and the drug delivery solution Actigel.

In May, ALT signed a sale agreement for its headquarters.

QLT will focus its business on Visudyne, an injection that treats age-related macular degeneration, where abnormal blood vessels grow in front of the retina, obscuring vision; the development of drug delivery technology; and the development of an early-stage acne drug.

Shares of QLT rose 40 cents, or more than 10 percent, to $44.20 in premarket trading.