Mallinckrodt says it will buy immune cell therapy company Therakos for $1.33B

Irish drugmaker Mallinckrodt said Monday it will buy privately held immunotherapy company Therakos for $1.33 billion.

Therakos' Photopheresis system collects immune cells from a patient's blood, treats the cells with ultraviolet light to activate them, and returns them to the patient's body so they can attack a disease. In the U.S. its system is used to treat skin problems caused by cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, a type of blood cancer that involves the skin. It's approved for patients who haven't been helped by other treatments. The device has been approved for conditions like Crohn's disease and organ transplants in other countries.

Mallinckrodt says Therakos expects 2015 annual sales of around $185 million to $195 million and expects high-single-digit percentage growth. It added that Therakos' system has strong profit margins and said the device should add 10 cents per share to its profit in its next fiscal year, with bigger contributions in subsequent years.

The deal comes a week after Mallinckrodt reported disappointing second-quarter revenue and said future growth in sales of its HP Acthar Gel, the target of a $5.6 billion acquisition in 2014, may be lower than it expected. Acthar is used to treat a variety of autoimmune and inflammatory conditions. Earlier this year the former Covidien PLC unit paid $2.3 billion to buy Ikaria, which makes a drug called Inomax that is used to treat a type of respiratory failure in newborns.

Mallinckrodt expects to buy Therakos from The Gores Group during the third quarter.

Shares of Mallinckrodt PLC rose 3.1 percent to $103.50 on Monday. The stock is down 17 percent since Aug. 3.