Allergan is reportedly seeking an Allergan-Salix Pharmaceuticals alliance to foil Valeant’s takeover attempt. Sources tell the Wall Street Journal that Allergan could be set to sign a deal with Salix or another company within the month, and that a merger would “add another layer of intrigue and complication to one of the year’s biggest and most colorful merger dramas.”

The WSJ says some of the complexity is that Salix is mid-merger with Italy’s Cosmo Technologies, and that this merger agreement prevents either party from walking away to pursue “an alternative transaction,” although an analyst tells the WSJ Salix could probably get out of the deal in exchange for a $25 million breakup fee.

Valeant is looking to take over Allergan in a hostile $53 billion bid. Allergan has already run through a list of possible suitors, and has asserted that a Valeant takeover would be a disaster for its portfolio.