Shire nabs much-needed PhIII boost for dry-eye prospect lifitegrast

Just one week after receiving an FDA rejection for dry-eye candidate lifitegrast, Shire ($SHPG) came back on Tuesday with positive Phase III data for the med. The way Bernstein analyst Ronny Gal sees it, "this should be enough for approval," and that means Allergan ($AGN) had better watch out: With Shire's drug taking less time to work and posting efficacy in as many or more trial patients, "our initial thought is that lifitegrast seems somewhat superior" to the Dublin drugmaker's blockbuster Restasis, Gal wrote in a note to clients. Release | More