Pharma BD Deal Intelligence
A $475M bolt-on that got swept into Valeant's Philidor specialty-pharmacy scandal, dragging its dermatology brands into years of goodwill writedowns. Bausch Health took a $469M impairment on the successor unit in 2021 and further hits in 2022 and 2023, with a planned Solta spinoff shelved rather than completed.
"Valeant Pharmaceuticals has snapped up another dermatology specialist in its ongoing quest to build its business in the field" — factual framing within…
Trade coverage relaying the company framing that the deal would 'solidify our position as a leader in dermatology,' presented as a strategic portfolio…
The FTC required Valeant and PreCision to sell or relinquish rights to PreCision's branded single-agent topical tretinoins and generic Retin-A to settle…
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Valeant closed its acquisition of privately held PreCision Dermatology for $475M cash, expanding its dermatology franchise (already enlarged by Bausch + Lomb). Notable as one of Valeant's bolt-ons during the Allergan hostile-bid period.
Assessment window: 5yr post-close.
$7.8B US dermatologics market spend (2019, post-deal benchmark)
PreCision Dermatology marketed a portfolio of branded prescription topicals — Locoid Lipocream (hydrocortisone butyrate, atopic dermatitis), Hylatopic (hyaluronic-acid-based barrier emollient, atopic dermatitis), Clindagel (clindamycin gel, acne vulgaris), and BenzEFoam (benzoyl peroxide foam, acne) — across the steroid-responsive dermatoses and acne categories that together serve tens of millions of US patients each year.
The US topical-dermatology market at deal time was a fragmented branded/generic battleground. In topical corticosteroids, Locoid Lipocream competed against generic hydrocortisone butyrate, mometasone (Elocon), fluticasone (Cutivate), and desonide (DesOwen/Desonate). In acne, Clindagel and BenzEFoam fought brand competitors like Solodyn (Valeant/Bausch), Onexton, Aczone (Allergan), Epiduo (Galderma), and a wide field of generic clindamycin/benzoyl peroxide combinations. Hylatopic positioned against CeraVe-class barrier prescription devices (Atopiclair, EpiCeram). PreCision was projecting ~$130M of 2014 revenue across these four anchors and operated through Onset Dermatologics (Rx) and PrecisionMD (physician-dispensed) channels. Valeant CEO Michael Pearson framed the $475M+$25M-milestone deal as a portfolio-strengthening bolt-on that would extend the dermatology franchise built off Bausch + Lomb and Medicis. The FTC ultimately required Valeant to divest PreCision's branded single-agent topical tretinoin and generic Retin-A rights to clear competitive concerns. The deal landed during Valeant's hostile pursuit of Allergan and was emblematic of the Pearson-era acquire-rather-than-invent model later flagged by physicians and analysts as a sustainability risk.
| Deal | Year | Value | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. / PreCision Dermatology, Inc. (this deal) | 2014 | $475M | 23 |
| Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. / Dow Pharmaceutical Sciences, Inc. | 2009 | $285M | 66 |
| Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. / iNova Pharmaceuticals | 2011 | $700M | 63 |
| Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. / Xcel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2005 | $280M | 42 |
| Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. / Dermik Laboratories (Sanofi dermatology unit) | 2011 | $425M | 36 |
| Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. / Bausch + Lomb | 2013 | $8.7B | 36 |
| Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. / Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation | 2012 | $2.6B | 33 |
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More: 2014 deals · Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. deals · Dermatology deals