Allergan to Buy Phoenix Firm in Move to Boost Sales in Japan

With eyes on Japan, Allergan Inc. said Tuesday that it has agreed to buy the Phoenix-based lens care business of the British firm Pilkington Plc.

Allergan, which makes cleaning and wetting solutions for contact lenses, expects the purchase to double its sales of such products in Japan.

The Phoenix unit has annual worldwide sales $40 million to $50 million, about half of that in the Japanese market, a spokesman said. It employs about 125 people and runs a solution-making plant.

Its product line includes a bottled peroxide that is the only approved disinfectant for soft lenses in Japan, said Jeff D’Eliscu, an Allergan spokesman. Japanese contact wearers are just beginning to convert to soft lenses from the traditional hard or gas-permeable type--a switch already made by U.S. consumers, he said.

Allergan also expects sales to increase because it will charge 20% to 30% more for soft-lens solutions than for solutions for traditional lenses, he added.

The purchase price for the Pilkington unit was not disclosed.

In August, Irvine-based Allergan increased its current holding to 100% in Santen-Allergan, a joint venture company established in 1974 to manufacture, import and sell contact lens care products in the Japanese market.