Lexington’s Shire HGT looks to develop therapy for rare eye disorder in infants

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Shire HGT of Lexington will look to help develop a therapy to treat a rare eye disorder in infants, thanks to an acquisition by its Irish parent company.

Irish drug company Shire PLC said Tuesday that it has acquired a Swedish company with promising therapy for a rare eye disorder.

The Swedish company is Premacure AB, and it is developing a protein replacement therapy for the prevention of retinopathy of prematurity, or ROP. ROP is a rare and potentially blinding eye disorder that primarily affects premature infants and is one of the most common causes of visual loss in childhood.

Shire operates its Human Genetic Therapies division, known as Shire HGT, from a $500 million campus in Lexington. About a year ago, it reported having nearly 1,400 full-time employees in Massachusetts.

In a Tuesday press release, the company said the acquisition will allow Shire HGT to enter a new therapeutic area – neonatology – while maintaining its focus on developing novel therapies for the treatment of rare diseases with high unmet medical need.