Allergan has tried to go after alopecia in the past; Exicure brings a new spherical nucleic acid (SNA) technology. In other recent deals, AstraZeneca sells Seroquel, Losec rights to Germany’s Cheplapharm.

Allergan was expected to announce soon that it would follow its shareholders' advice and split the company in two, but it's being acquired by AbbVie for $63bn instead, finally giving investors a big boost in their Allergan holdings after years of decline.

Allergan will split the CEO and chairman roles as requested by Appaloosa, but only in the next leadership transition. The activist shareholder fired back with renewed opposition to leaving Brent Saunders in both top jobs.

Allergan’s Restasis patent cliff is imminent: full-year sales of the dry eye product declined 14% and the firm expects US generic competition by Q2. But Botox growth is steady, Vraylar is poised to add a major indication and other pipeline assets may add growth.