Shire buys Meritage Pharma for at least $70 mln

LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Dublin-based drugmaker Shire said on Tuesday it had bought U.S. firm Meritage Pharma for at least $70 million, boosting its gastrointestinal drugs business.

Shire (Xetra: S7E.DE - news) said it had obtained rights to buy privately-held Meritage in connection with its $4.2 billion acquisition of rare disease specialist Viropharma in 2014. The fee could rise if development and regulatory milestones are reached, it said.

The deal comes after Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (NYSE: VRX - news) sealed a $10.1 billion acquisition of gastrointestinal drugmaker Salix Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqGS: SLXP - news) on Sunday, and said this week it planned to strike further smaller deals.

Shire had taken initial steps to acquire Salix and was working with advisers on a potential offer, according to people familiar with the matter.

Shares (Frankfurt: DI6.F - news) in Shire were down 0.4 percent at 5170 pence at 1232 GMT.

(Reporting by Neil Maidment; Editing by Greg Mahlich)