Shire to Buy Eye-Drug Maker SARcode for $160 Million

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Shire Plc, a maker of medicines for rare genetic diseases, agreed to buy closely held SARcode Bioscience Inc. for at least $160 million to expand in drugs for eye conditions.

SARcode’s experimental treatment Lifitegrast for dry eye disease may reach the market in the U.S. as early as 2016, Dublin-based Shire said today in a statement. Shire will pay $160 million to shareholders of Brisbane, California-based SARcode, and they’ll be eligible for additional payments if the drug meets clinical, regulatory and sales goals, according to the statement.