Reuters
- AbbVie is acquiring Botox-maker Allergan in a $63 billion deal, the companies said Tuesday.
- Allergan has had a long history dating back to the 1940s. Over the years it's gone through major acquisitions, including some that have fallen through.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Allergan, the pharmaceutical company best known for making Botox, on Tuesday agreed to be acquired by AbbVie in a $63 billion deal.
Investors had been unhappy with Allergan's stock performance over the last year, and some have been vocal in calling for change.
Here's how the company went from its start as a small but beloved company out of Southern California in the 1950s to the latest takeover target.
This article was initially published in June 2018 and has been updated.
Allergan was founded in 1948 by pharmacist Gavin S. Herbert, shown below on the left with Dr. Parmis Khatibi, a specialist at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center in 2014.Wikimedia CommonsAlong with chemist Stanley Bly, Herbert created the company's first drug, an anti-allergy nose drop that used the antihistamine neoantergan. They marketed the drug under the name Allergan.Wikimedia/CDC/ Douglas Jordan, M.A.
The eye drops launched Allergan into the eye care field. Allergan Pharmaceuticals Inc. officially became a company in 1950, and the company focused on eye products before going public in 1970.Official U.S. Navy Page/flickr
Allergan briefly merged with drug company SmithKline Beckman in 1980. In 1989, it separated from SKB when it was acquired by SmithKline Beecham (precursors to today's pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline).REUTERS/Luke MacGregor
Around that time, the FDA approved a drug to treat lazy eye known as botulinum toxin type A, or Botox. Allergan acquired the company that made the new drug.AP Images
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SEE ALSO: David Tepper now has the go-ahead to go full activist on Allergan if he wants to
