Shire buys Premacure for infant eye treatment
This article was originally published in Scrip
Shire said it acquired Premacure, a closely held Swedish biotechnology company developing a treatment for a rare disease that can blind babies.
Terms of the deal, which includes upfront and milestone payments, were not disclosed.
Premacure is developing a protein replacement therapy for retinopathy of prematurity, a condition that mostly affects premature infants. The disorder is one of the most common causes of visual loss in children, Shire said. The treatment is in Phase II development.
The acquisition represents a new therapeutic area for Dublin-based Shire. The primary goal of the Premacure study is to restore insulin-like growth factor 1 levels in infants.
The study began in 2010 and is estimated to end in December of this year, according to a US clinical trials database. The study's goal is to test 80 newborn babies and the trial is still recruiting participants, according to the database.
As many as 1,500 premature babies in the US each year are treated for the eye condition and as many as 600 become legally blind, Shire said. Usually, all babies less than 30 weeks gestation or weighing less than 3 pounds at birth are screened for the disorder, according to US government data. Typically, the smallest and sickest premature babies are at the greatest risk.