Dive Brief:
- BMO Capital Markets conducted a survey of 51 high-prescribing ophthalmologists to find out how they felt about a potential Valeant acquisition of Allergan.
- Overall, 74% had a negative feeling about the proposed Valeant takeover, and 37% said they would shift business away from the combined company if the deal went through. More than 60% also said that they would trust a combined Valeant-Allergan less.
- Here's why that matters: Ophthalmology is big business for both Allergan (46% of net sales) and for Valeant (42% of whose net sales are from Bausch and Lomb), according to a BMO analyst.
Dive Insight:
Ophthalmology is important to both Allergan and Valeant—and now, it's important for Actavis, too. In fact, a team of analysts at DRG told BioPharma Dive that Actavis may become one of the biggest specialty drug companies thanks to this acquisition (announced on Monday), partly because of the ophthalmology portfolios.
Want to read more? Here's the full scoop on Actavis' $66M purchase of Allergan.