Spree Continues as Shire Snaps Up New York Eye Drop Developer for $300 Million
August 3, 2015
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Lexington, Mass.-based Shire PLC announced today that it bought New York-based Foresight Biotherapeutics Inc. for $300 million.
Foresight Biotherapeutics is a privately held company. With the acquisition, Shire acquires global rights to FST-100, topical ophthalmic drops used to treat infectious conjunctivitis, more commonly known as pink eye. FST-100 has been in two Phase II studies for proof-of-concept efficacy and safety in adenoviral conjunctivitis. Once the acquisition is finalized, Shire will oversee final development and the start of Phase III trials.
“With the acquisition of Foresight Biotherapeutics, Shire demonstrates its commitment to eye care while advancing its strategy of addressing high unmet medical need through transformative treatments for rare diseases and specialty medicines,” said Flemming Ornskov, chief executive officer of Shire in a statement. “Opthalmics is a highly-attractive growth area for Shire and this acquisition allows us to strengthen our presence in this therapeutic area. It is highly synergistic with the planned lifitegrast structure. FST-100 and lifitegrast, if approved, would address two of the leading reasons people seek eye care treatment.”
In April 2015, Shire announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted the New Drug Application (NDA) for lifitegrast and granted the drug a Priority Review designation. Lifitegrast is an investigational treatment for dry eye in adults. A decision is expected on Oct. 25, 2015.
In January 2015, Shire signed a merger agreement with Bedminster, N.J.-based NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for $5.2 billion. Shire bought all outstanding shares of NPS for $46 per share in cash.
NPS Pharma focuses on rare diseases. Its first product, GATTEX for injection, is marketed in the U.S. to treat short bowel syndrome, and is working to launch the drug in Europe under the name REVESTIVE. Another product, NATPARA in the U.S., NATPAR in Europe, is under review for the treatment of hypoparathyroidism (HPT).
In July 2014, Shire and Chicago-based AbbVie announced a merger agreement, but the deal fell through after the U.S. Treasury Department tightened regulations over so-called tax inversion laws. A tax inversion is when a U.S. company acquires a company in a country with a lower corporate tax rate, then shifts its headquarters to the country to take advantage of the lower rate. For example, although Shire’s official headquarters is in Dublin, Ireland, it primarily operates out of the U.S.
After the Shire-AbbVie deal fell through, Shire gained a $1.64 billion break-up fee, as well as a $2.1 billion loan facility, which puts them in a position of having plenty of cash for acquisitions. In comparison to the NPS deal, the $300 million price tag for Foresight is pretty minor. It does give the company a great deal of strength in the eye care market if both lifitegrast and FST-100 are approved. In May 2014, Shire established its Ophthalmics Business Unit to focus on eye care. In this area the company has acquired SARcode Bioscience and BIKAM Pharmaceuticals.
“As a researcher and clinician, I know first-hand the significant unmet patient need for an effective treatment for infectious conjunctivitis as well as the challenges associated with treating this condition, so I’m excited about the potential of FST-100,” said Edward Holland, director of Cornea Services at the Cincinnati Eye Institute and professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Cincinnati in a statement. “I’m also pleased to know that Shire, with its research and commercial expertise, will further develop FST-100 with the goal of bringing it to market as a treatment option for this significant clinical problem.”