Shire Supports Rare Disease Day 2012

Global Initiatives Underscore Company’s Long-Term Commitment to the Rare Disease Community

Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, today announced its support of Rare Disease Day, an annual, worldwide initiative that calls attention to rare diseases as a public health issue and highlights the need for more understanding and awareness about these diseases.

Observed annually on the last day of February, Rare Disease Day is coordinated at the international level by the European Organisation for Rare Diseases (EURORDIS) and by the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) in the US. The Rare Disease Day 2012 theme focuses on solidarity, and the need for collaboration and mutual support in the field of rare diseases.

According to EURORDIS and NORD there are between 6,000 and 8,000 known rare diseases affecting approximately 30 million Americans and 30 million Europeans. As the leader in rare diseases, Shire’s Human Genetic Therapies (HGT) business focuses its work on researching, developing and marketing therapies for Fabry disease, Hereditary Angioedema, Hunter syndrome, and Gaucher disease, and has built and invested in a pipeline of innovative products and solutions to treat rare diseases.

“Shire’s mission is to enable people with life-altering conditions to lead better lives – and for us, this includes improving access to information and diagnosis as well as providing much-needed treatment for rare diseases,” said Sylvie Grégoire, President of HGT. “This day is an occasion to show our solidarity with the rare disease community. We hope that Rare Disease Day can highlight the need for consistent, reliable and effective treatments and services for patients, as well as draw attention to their conditions as a global public health concern.”

Shire’s Global Rare Disease Day Initiatives

As part of its external initiatives, Shire is supporting the RARE Project, a leading non-profit rare disease advocacy organization, in their Global Genes ProjectTM “Wear That You Care” denim campaign.  The Company also plans to hand out over 3,500 denim blue ribbons to employees at various corporate locations worldwide.

Shire is also supporting a variety of other initiatives surrounding Rare Diseases Day 2012, including the “Deuxième Journée des Maladies Rares” in Lausanne, Switzerland on February 25; EURORDIS' first fundraising Gala Dinner celebrating Rare Disease Day on February 29th in Brussels; MassBio’s Rare Disease Day at the Massachusetts State House on February 29th and the FDA’s Rare Disease Patient Advocacy Day in Washington DC on March 1st.

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Notes to editors

SHIRE PLC

Shire’s strategic goal is to become the leading specialty biopharmaceutical company that focuses on meeting the needs of the specialist physician.  Shire focuses its business on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, human genetic therapies, gastrointestinal diseases and regenerative medicine as well as opportunities in other therapeutic areas to the extent they arise through acquisitions.  Shire’s in-licensing, merger and acquisition efforts are focused on products in specialist markets with strong intellectual property protection and global rights.  Shire believes that a carefully selected and balanced portfolio of products with strategically aligned and relatively small-scale sales forces will deliver strong results.

For further information on Shire, please visit the Company’s website: www.shire.com.

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Statements included herein that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time. In the event such risks or uncertainties materialize, the Company’s results could be materially adversely affected. The risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks associated with: the inherent uncertainty of research, development, approval, reimbursement, manufacturing and commercialization of the Company’s Specialty Pharmaceuticals, Human Genetic Therapies and Regenerative Medicine products, as well as the ability to secure new products for commercialization and/or development; government regulation of the Company’s products; the Company’s ability to manufacture its products in sufficient quantities to meet demand; the impact of competitive therapies on the Company’s products; the Company’s ability to register, maintain and enforce patents and other intellectual property rights relating to its products; the Company’s ability to obtain and maintain government and other third-party reimbursement for its products; and other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.