Shire’s CEO highlights commitment to innovation

Shire's chief executive officer (CEO) Flemming Ornskov has highlighted the key role that innovation plays in the company's current efforts to reposition itself for long-term growth.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, the business leader observed that new ideas and fresh research are now being prioritised, moving away from the firm's previous emphasis on product acquisition.

Mr Ornskov said: "The real thing that drives a pharma company is its ability to create innovation. If you don't cherish and focus and put that at the highest level of the company, it gets lost."

Since taking over as CEO, he has helped to bring greater unity and efficiency to the company's disparate divisions, simplified its business structure and attempted to move Shire's focus away from the ADHD medication field.

Now, the firm is successfully branching out into the rare diseases sector and pursuing a new strategy of mergers and acquisitions, allowing the management board to raise its full-year profit forecast thanks to higher sales and lower costs.

Its multibillion-dollar acquisition of the rare disease specialist ViroPharma in November 2013 will also help to support Shire's future growth.