Shire Announces Judges Panel for Scholarship Program for Individuals with ADHD

The second year of the Shire ADHD Scholarship Program will award fifty (50) scholarships to individuals with ADHD

PHILADELPHIA--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Shire, a global specialty biopharmaceutical company, announces a distinguished panel of judges for its ADHD scholarship program for the 2012-2013 academic year. The program is for individuals in the United States diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) who are pursuing higher education at an accredited college, vocational school or technical school. The judging panel includes representatives from ADHD and mental illness advocacy organizations, as well as leading physicians in pediatric, adolescent and adult psychiatry professional organizations. The Shire ADHD Scholarship Program will award fifty scholarships in 2012. In 2011, the program awarded twenty-five scholarships.

“The response to the Shire ADHD Scholarship Program in 2011 was tremendous. We had hundreds of applications from inspiring students across the nation. We’re grateful that so many advocates and experts are on the judging panel, including five who are returning from last year”

The Shire ADHD Scholarship includes a one-time $2,000 monetary award and offers a prepaid year of ADHD coaching services provided to assist with the transition to higher education. The Edge Foundation will provide the ADHD coaching services. The deadline to apply is March 30, 2012 and the scholarship award recipients will be announced on June 12, 2012. For information, including eligibility requirements and the scholarship application, visit www.ShireADHDScholarship.com.

The judging panel includes:

Carol Caruso, Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania;

David Baron, MS.Ed., D.O., past President of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP);

Evelyn Polk Green, MS.Ed., President of the Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA);

Laurence Greenhill, MD, immediate past President of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP);

James E. Nininger, MD, a member of the American Psychiatric Association’s Board of Trustees and the Board of Directors of the American Psychiatric Foundation;

Steven Peer, M.S., President, Board of Directors, Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD);

Anthony Rostain, M.D., M.A., President of the American Professional Society for ADHD and Related Disorders (APSARD);

And two members of Shire’s senior leadership team. For more information on the judges including biographies, visit the judges’ page on http://www.shireadhdscholarship.com/judges.aspx

“The response to the Shire ADHD Scholarship Program in 2011 was tremendous. We had hundreds of applications from inspiring students across the nation. We’re grateful that so many advocates and experts are on the judging panel, including five who are returning from last year,” said Michael Yasick, Senior Vice President of Shire’s ADHD Business Unit.

Award recipients will be offered ADHD coaching from the Edge Foundation, which includes weekly sessions with specially trained ADHD coaches. The students set weekly goals and action plans to meet those goals and may receive e-mail and phone support from their coaches to help keep them on track.

“What makes this scholarship program so novel is that it gives students with ADHD greater structure, accountability and assistance – important tools to help with their educational endeavors,” said Robert Tudisco, Executive Director of the Edge Foundation.

The Edge Foundation is a Seattle-based nonprofit organization that offers coaching support for students with ADHD. The Edge Foundation’s primary mission is to provide access to qualified, professional coaches for students with ADHD as part of their multi-modal treatment program. For more information on the Edge Foundation, please visit the company’s website: www.edgefoundation.org.

Shire’s ADHD Scholarship Program is part of Shire’s patient-centric approach that offers support to patients, parents, advocates and others while providing care for people diagnosed with ADHD.

For further information please contact:

Media	Matthew Cabrey ([e-mail])	1-484-595-8248
	Shire Pharmaceuticals
	Bev Volpe ([e-mail])	1-215-545-4715 Ext 24
	Simon Public Relations Group

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.

"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.

© 2012 Shire US Inc., Wayne, PA 19087