Shire Pharmaceuticals announces sales increase of 19 per cent

Sales at Shire grew by almost a fifth during 2005, it has announced.

Shire products brought $1.3 billion to the firm, boosting revenues by 17 per cent to $1.6 billion (?900 million). Adderall XR, the firm’s biggest selling product, saw its market share rise by 26 per cent. As a result, shareholders will see dividend growth of ten per cent.

The financial results also hinted that Shire may soon reach a settlement with Barr Laboratories over patents for Adderall. It had already come to an agreement with Impax Laboratories in January.

Matthew Emmens, CEO, said: “This has been another successful year for Shire. We met all of our strategic objectives and continued to grow with product sales up 19 per cent.

“During the year we made excellent progress in setting the stage for our future growth. The acquisition of TKT and the collaboration with New River Pharmaceuticals for NRP104 greatly enhances our product portfolio”.

New drugs which may come to market this year include ulcerative colitis treatment Mesavance, which Shire has filed for marketing approval with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

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