Shire Plc history, company profile (overview) and corporate video
Shire Plc was a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Massachusetts, United States.
HISTORY
Shire’s history began in 1986 when a tiny company called AimCane was founded in the U.K. by entrepreneurs Harry Stratford, Dennis Stephens, Peter Moriarty, Geoff Hall, and Dr. Jim Murray.
Initially, AimCane offered a range of calcium products designed to help with the bone disease, osteoporosis.
AimCane was situated in a shop in Hampshire, and when the company decided to change its name, it chose Shire, after the name of the building that housed the company in those early days.
Under its new name Shire, the company expanded its specialism to include hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and Alzheimer’s disease.
In 1995, Shire acquired another Hampshire-based business called Imperial Pharmaceutical Services.
In 1995, the company also entered into a co-development agreement with Johnson and Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development to develop Reminyl (galantamine) for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
In 1996, Shire was first listed on the London Stock Exchange.
In 1997, the company acquired Richwood Pharmaceutical Company and Pharmavene, a company with a portfolio of drug delivery and screening technologies.
In 2001, Shire acquired the Canadian pharma company BioChem Pharma.
In 2005, the company acquired Transkaryotic Therapeutics.
In 2007, the company acquired New River Pharmaceuticals Inc., gaining control of Vyvanse.
In 2008, the company acquired Jerini, a German company focusing on treating hereditary angioedema.
In 2010, Shire acquired Movetis, a Belgian company focusing on gastrointestinal products.
In 2011, the company acquired regenerative medicine manufacturer Advanced BioHealing.
In 2012, Shire acquired Ferrokin BioSciences along with FerroKins lead iron chelator.
In 2013, the company acquired Lotus Tissue Repair, Inc., Premacure AB, and SARcode Bioscience.
In 2014, the company acquired two rare disease drug companies: Fibrotech, a company focusing on antifibrotic compounds, and Lumena, a company researching rare gastro-intestinal and hepatic compounds.
In 2015, Shire acquired Meritage Pharma, Foresight Biotherapeutics, Dyax, and NPS Pharmaceuticals, along with its rare disease drugs Gattex and Natpara.
In 2016, Shire acquired Baxalta (which had been spun off from Baxter in 2015), creating one of the world’s largest biotech companies focused solely on rare diseases.
In 2019, Shire was acquired by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited.
*Information from Wikipedia.org, shire.com, and www.takeda.com.
**Video published on YouTube by “Fluor“