Irish drugmaker Shire Plc said Friday the European Medicines Agency has approved a new manufacturing site in Massachusetts that will be used to make the Fabry disease treatment Replagal.
The company said it will purify the enzyme replacement therapy at the new site in Lexington, Mass. The company also uses a site in Cambridge, Mass. The extra site will give Shire manufacturing flexibility, the company said.
Replagal will be the first drug made at the new plant.
Fabry disease is a rare inherited disorder caused by the lack of an enzyme needed to break down a certain type of fat. This leads to a buildup of that fat in the eyes, kidneys and nervous system, according to the National Institutes of Health, and can lead to kidney failure, nerve pain and other problems.
U.S.-traded shares of Shire fell 31 cents to $90.04 in afternoon trading while broader trading indexes were down less than 1 percent.