Shire Results Signal "Year Of Significant Achievement"

Shire Pharmaceuticals, based in the UK, has announced results for theyear ended June 30, 1997, which reveal a small loss but much enthusiasm for the future.

The group recorded a pretax loss of L100,000 ($161,000) for the year, compared with a L2.7 million profit for the like, year-earlier period, although Shire is confident of becoming cash generative following the completion of its merger agreement with US drugs group Richwood (Marketletter August 11).

Turnover increased by 9.6% to L23.1 million, with product sales reaching L13.3 million, an increase of 48.5%. The absence of the one-off payment received from Janssen in the previous year led to a drop in licensing fees from L11.7 million to L9 million, while operating expenses rose 30% to L24.5 million, as a result of the acquisition of Shire Laboratories, formerly known as Pharmavene (Marketletters passim).