PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, today announced its support for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) fellowships at leading medical institutions across the country.  The six fellowships will begin in 2011 and will provide a year of training in the management of IBD to physicians who recently completed a fellowship in gastroenterology.

"We are proud to support the education of future medical professionals," said Roger Adsett, senior vice president of Shire's gastroenterology business unit.  "As a company committed to advancing gastroenterology, we hope the individuals who complete the Shire-supported fellowships will provide important contributions to bettering patient care."

Institutions receiving support from Shire in the form of charitable contributions include: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles), Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.), Mount Sinai Medical Center (New York), University of California, San Francisco, and University of Chicago Medical Center. Shire selected these Centers of Excellence based on the centers' existing fellowship programs.

"Thanks to Shire's generous support, we will be able to increase the number of practicing physicians dedicated to treating inflammatory bowel disease, for which there is a growing need," said Daniel Present, MD, clinical professor of medicine and gastroenterology, at New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine.  "Fellowships are vital in generating valuable research and improving patient care."

The institutions selected the fellowship recipients in June for fellowships that will begin July 2011.  Medical students were selected for the fellowships by the individual medical institutions based on pre-existing criteria.

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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 (ADHD), human genetic therapies (HGT) and gastrointestinal (GI) diseases 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.

"SAFE HARBOR" STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995

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 Pharmaceutical and Human Genetic Therapies products, as well as the ability to secure and integrate 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.

SOURCE Shire plc