Shire plc

Shire Plc (lse: SHP; nasdaq: SHPGY) is a Jersey-registered, Irish-headquartered manufacturer of pharmaceuticals. Originating in and with a large operational base in the United Kingdom, its brands and products include Adderall XR, Carbatrol, Fosrenol, and the recently released Vyvanse.

Shire has its primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It has a secondary listing on NASDAQ.

History
Shire was founded by Harry Stratford, Dr James Murray, Dennis Stephens, Peter Moriarty, and Geoff Hall in 1986. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1996.

Shire has made a number of acquisitions over its history. These include:
 * Pharmavene and Richwood Pharmaceutical Company in 1997
 * Biochem Canada in 2001
 * Transkaryotic Therapeutics (now Shire Human Genetic Therapies) in 2005
 * New River Pharmaceuticals Inc, owners of Vyvanse, for $2.3bn in 2007.
 * Movetis, a Belgian company focusing on gastrointestinal products, in 2010
 * Advanced BioHealing, a regenerative medicine company, in 2011

Operations
Shire seeks to develop and market pharmaceutical products for specialty physicians. The company's in-licensing, merger and acquisition efforts are focused on products in niche markets with strong intellectual property protection either in the US or Europe.

The company focuses its drug research and development on the relatively common mental abnormality Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), as is made evident by the fact that three of its currently leading medications (Adderall/Adderall XR, Daytrana, and the newly developed Vyvanse), are intended for that disorder. However the Company also works on gastrointestinal (GI) treatments, human genetic therapies (HGT) and renal diseases.

Locations
The original corporate head quarters and still major operation base are located in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. Other major offices are located in the United States in Wayne, Pennsylvania and Cambridge, Massachusetts. In addition, Shire owns a manufacturing site in Lexington, Massachusetts and Owings Mills, Maryland.

Tax Avoidance
In 2008, in reaction to new taxation measures announced by the Labour Party in the treatment of royalties on patents, the company moved its tax domicile to Dublin, Ireland. Effected through the creation of a new holding company in St Helier, Jersey in the Channel Islands, it will pay reduced tax on global earnings, where royalties on patents lodged in Ireland are tax free.

Corporate leadership
The non-executive Board Chairman is Matthew Emmens. Angus Russell is the Chief Executive Officer. The President of the Human Genetic Therapies division is Sylvie Gregoire and Michael Cola is the President of Specialty Pharmaceuticals.