Shire gains on Lotus Tissue Repair acquisition

Ireland-based pharmaceutical company Shire on Wednesday gained on news it had acquired Lotus Tissue Repair.

Shire advanced 1.78% to 1,998.00p on Tuesday morning following its announcement about purchasing the US-based company for an undisclosed sum.

Lotus is focused on developing the first treatment for dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DEB), a rare genetic disorder that causes extremely fragile skin and recurrent blister formation.

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The group's protein replacement therapy is in late pre-clinical development for the treatment of DEB.

Philip Vickers, Head of Research and Development at Shire Human Genetic Therapies, said the protein replacement therapy could potentially provide first-in-class disease-modifying treatment for children with the disorder.

Lotus Tissue Repair was founded in 2011 when it closed on a $26m in Series A financing round from venture capital firm Third Rock Investors.

The acquisition marks Shire's latest effort to strengthen its rare disease offering including the treatment of EB.

Shire is also working on ABH001, a regenerative medicine product under investigation as a skin substitute therapy for nonhealing wounds in EB patients.

"The acquisition actually has no negative consequences on ABH001. That's moving ahead at full speed. It's not being slowed down. We very clearly see these as being complementary in a number of ways," Vickers told GEN.

RD