Forest Laboratories, which is in the process of being acquired by Actavis, has agreed to buy Furiex Pharmaceuticals for US$1.1 B upfront plus a contingent value right (CVR) that could increase the deal value to US$1.46 B. The CVR is based on the status of eluxadoline, Furiex’s promising late-stage drug candidate for diarrhoea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), as a controlled drug following US FDA approval. Eluxadoline will complement Forest’s Linzess® (linaclotide), a guanylate cyclase-C agonist that is used in the treatment of IBS with constipation and chronic idiopathic constipation.