Shire buys Advanced BioHealing for $750M

Shire P.L.C., a specialty biopharmaceutical company with North American headquarters in Wayne, said Tuesday that it agreed to pay $750 million for Advanced BioHealing Inc.

Advanced BioHealing's key product is Dermagraft, which is designed to be used to treat diabetic foot ulcers.

The company's U.S. facilities include a headquarters in Westport, Conn., a manufacturing facility in La Jolla, Calif., and a research center in Brentwood, Tenn.

"This acquisition is a strong and complementary strategic fit for Shire," Mike Cola, president of Shire's specialty pharmaceuticals business, said in a statement. "We will invest in the strengths of Advanced BioHealing's specialist commercial team, its manufacturing and its product development. The potential to build on the success of Dermagraft is attractive; it's already a leading product providing a solution for a common complication suffered by diabetics in the U.S. that, if not treated effectively, can lead to lower limb amputation and high cost to patients and society. We believe there's an opportunity to create more value from Dermagraft and Advanced BioHealing's proprietary technology and that with Advanced BioHealing's team joining Shire, we can build Advanced BioHealing into an exciting new business providing regenerative medicine for patients' unmet needs."

In its statement, Shire said it would use Advanced BioHealing to establish a new Regenerative Medicine business unit. Kevin Rakin, chief executive officer of Advanced BioHealing, will continue to lead this division within the Shire organization.

"This is a very exciting opportunity for all of us at Advanced BioHealing to develop the business and deliver continued growth within a new environment that is highly complementary and will provide great leverage for us," Rakin said in the statement. "We all look forward to being part of Shire."