Shire on lookout for acquisitions

Fresh off its best quarterly results ever, Shire says it's still in the market for smaller companies to buy. "That is how we get new products," CEO Matthew Emmens said.

Shire's 41 percent third-quarter sales growth led the company to boost its year-end forecast--it's now expecting revenues to increase 30 percent or more. What's driving it? Newer products such as Fosrenol for dialysis patients and Elaprase for the genetic condition Hunter Syndrome. Vyvanse, the company's next generation attention deficit hyperactivity drug also is growing in the U.S., where it launched over the summer and captured 4 percent of the market since. A lot hinges on Vyvanse; Shire hopes it will replace ADHD blockbuster Adderall XR, which goes off patent in 2009.

- read the report from the London Telegraph

Related Articles:
Who's next on the biotech buyout hit list? Report
More takeover targets for Big Pharma. Report
Should Pharma take the M&A cure? Report
Shire to Massachusetts: Pass incentive bill now. Report
FDA approves Shire's new ulcerative colitis drug. Report