Shire Plc (LSE: SHP; NASDAQ: SHPGY) is a Jersey-registered, Irish-headquartered global specialty biopharmaceutical company that is the manufacturer of pharmaceuticals.^[2] Originating in and with a large operational base in the United Kingdom, its brands and products include Adderall XR, Carbatrol, Fosrenol, and the recently released Vyvanse.

Shire has its primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It had a market capitalisation of approximately £12.3 billion as of 23 December 2011, making it the 31st-largest company on the London Stock Exchange.^[3] Shire has a secondary listing on NASDAQ.

History[link]

Shire was founded by Harry Stratford, Dr James Murray, Dennis Stephens, Peter Moriarty, and Geoff Hall in 1986.^[4] It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1996.^[4] Shire's initial products were calcium supplements for patients seeking to treat or prevent osteoporosis. Shire's acquisitions include:

• Richwood Pharmaceutical Company in 1995, which formed Shire-Richwood, Inc.^[5]
• Pharmavene in 1997^[6]
• Biochem Canada in 2001^[7]
• Transkaryotic Therapeutics (now Shire Human Genetic Therapies) in 2005^[8]
• New River Pharmaceuticals Inc, owners of Vyvanse, for $2.3bn in 2007^[9]
• Movetis, a Belgian company focusing on gastrointestinal products, in 2010^[10]
• Advanced BioHealing, a regenerative medicine company, in 2011^[11]

Operations[link]

Shire seeks to develop and market pharmaceutical products for specialty physicians. The company's in-licensing, merger and acquisition efforts are focused on products in niche markets with strong intellectual property protection either in the US or Europe.

The company focuses its drug research and development on the relatively common mental abnormality Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), as is made evident by the fact that three of its currently leading medications (Adderall/Adderall XR, Daytrana, and the newly developed Vyvanse), are intended for that disorder. However the Company also works on gastrointestinal (GI) treatments, human genetic therapies (HGT) and renal diseases.

Products[link]

A container of Adderall XR

Royalty income[link]

Locations[link]

The original corporate head quarters and still major operation base are located in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. Other major offices are located in the United States in Wayne, Pennsylvania and Cambridge, Massachusetts. In addition, Shire owns a manufacturing site in Lexington, Massachusetts and Owings Mills, Maryland.

Tax Avoidance[link]

In 2008, in reaction to new taxation measures announced by the Labour Party in the treatment of royalties on patents, the company moved its tax domicile to Dublin, Ireland.^[13] Effected through the creation of a new holding company in St Helier, Jersey in the Channel Islands, it will pay reduced tax on global earnings, where royalties on patents lodged in Ireland are tax free.

Corporate leadership[link]

The non-executive Board Chairman is Matthew Emmens. Angus Russell is the Chief Executive Officer. The President of the Human Genetic Therapies division is Sylvie Gregoire and Michael Cola is the President of Specialty Pharmaceuticals.

See also[link]

• Pharmaceutical industry in the United Kingdom

References[link]

External links[link]

Companies portal

• Official site
• German pharmaceutical branch
• Yahoo profile

v t e Pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry in the United Kingdom Manufacturing in the United Kingdom · Economy of the United Kingdom Companies Alliance Boots · Astex · AstraZeneca (MedImmune) · BTG · Cyclacel · Dechra Pharmaceuticals · GE Healthcare · Genus · GlaxoSmithKline · Hikma Pharmaceuticals · Intercytex · Oxford BioMedica · Pfizer UK · Phytopharm · Renovo · Shire · TBS GB · Unipath · Vectura Group · Vernalis · ViiV Healthcare Government and regulatory bodies Commission on Human Medicines · Department of Health · European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines · European Medicines Agency · Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency · National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health · National Patient Safety Agency · Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland · General Pharmaceutical Council · Scottish Medicines Consortium · Veterinary Medicines Directorate Industry and professional bodies Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry · European Federation of Biotechnology · European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations · Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine · Pharmacists' Defence Association · Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain · Worshipful Society of Apothecaries Other Bandolier · British Approved Name · British National Formulary · British National Formulary for Children · British Pharmacopoeia · DrugScope · European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership · European Pharmacopoeia · List of world's largest pharmaceutical companies · Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee Category

v t e FTSE 100 companies of the United Kingdom   → FTSE 250 As of 19 March 2012: Aberdeen Asset Management Admiral Group Aggreko AMEC Anglo American Antofagasta ARM Holdings Ashmore Group Associated British Foods AstraZeneca Aviva BAE Systems Barclays BG Group BHP Billiton BP British American Tobacco British Land Company British Sky Broadcasting BT Group Bunzl Burberry Group CRH Capita Group Capital Shopping Centres Group Carnival Centrica Compass Group Croda International Diageo Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Experian Evraz Fresnillo G4S GKN GlaxoSmithKline Glencore International Hammerson Hargreaves Lansdown HSBC ICAP IMI Imperial Tobacco InterContinental Hotels Group International Airlines Group International Power Intertek Group ITV Johnson Matthey Kazakhmys Kingfisher Land Securities Group Legal & General Lloyds Banking Group Man Group Marks & Spencer Meggitt Wm Morrison Supermarkets National Grid Next Old Mutual Pearson Petrofac Polymetal International Prudential Randgold Resources Reckitt Benckiser Reed Elsevier Resolution Rexam Rio Tinto Group Rolls-Royce Group The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Royal Dutch Shell RSA Insurance Group SABMiller Sage Group J Sainsbury Schroders Serco Group Severn Trent Shire Smith & Nephew Smiths Group SSE Standard Chartered Standard Life Tate & Lyle Tesco Tullow Oil Unilever United Utilities Vedanta Resources Vodafone Weir Group Whitbread Wolseley WPP Xstrata

A shire is a traditional term for a division of land, found in the United Kingdom and in Australia. In parts of Australia, a shire is an administrative unit, but it is not synonymous with "county" there, which is a land registration unit. Individually, or as a suffix in Scotland and in the far northeast of England, the word is pronounced /ˈʃaɪər/. As a suffix in an English or Welsh place name, it is in most regions pronounced /-ʃə(r)/, or sometimes /-ʃɪə(r)/.

In the British Isles^{[citation needed]}, "shire" is the original term for what is usually known as a county; the word county having been introduced at the Norman Conquest of England. The two are synonymous. Although in modern British usage counties are referred to as "shires" mainly in poetic contexts, terms such as Shire Hall remain common. Shire also remains a common part of many county names, and Dorchester in Dorset is the original and oldest 'shire' in England.

The word derives from the Old English scir, itself a derivative of the Proto-Germanic skizo (cf. Old High German scira), meaning care or official charge.^[1] The system was first used in Wessex from the beginning of Anglo-Saxon settlement, and spread to most of the rest of England in the tenth century, along with West Saxon political control. In Domesday (1086) the city of York was divided into shires.^[2] The first shires of Scotland were created in English-settled areas such as Lothian and the Borders, (Bernicia) in the ninth century. King David I more consistently created shires and appointed sheriffs across lowland shores of Scotland.

The shire in early days was governed by an Ealdorman and in the later Anglo-Saxon period by royal official known as a "shire reeve" or sheriff. The shires were divided into hundreds or wapentakes, although other less common sub-divisions existed. An alternative name for a shire was a "sheriffdom" until sheriff court reforms separated the two concepts. In Scotland the word "county" was not adopted for the shires. Although "county" appears in some texts, "shire" was the normal name until counties for statutory purposes were created in the nineteenth century.

Shire county[link]

The phrase "shire county" applies, unofficially, to non-metropolitan counties in England, specifically those that are not unitary local authority areas.

Shire names in the United Kingdom[link]

"Shire" also refers, in a narrower sense, to ancient counties with names that ended in "shire". These counties are typically (though not always) named after their county town.

The suffix -shire is attached to most of the names of English, Scottish and Welsh counties. It tends not to be found in the names of shires that were pre-existing divisions. Essex, Kent, and Sussex, for example, have never borne a -shire, as each represents a former Anglo-Saxon kingdom. Similarly Cornwall was a British kingdom before it became an English county. The term 'shire' is not used in the names of the six traditional counties of Northern Ireland.

The historic counties of England — red indicates "-shire" counties, orange indicates where the "-shire" suffix is occasionally used

Shire names in England[link]

Shires in England bearing the "-shire" suffix include: Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire, and Yorkshire. These counties, on their historical boundaries, cover a little more than half the area of England. The counties that do not use "-shire" are mainly in three areas, in the south-east, south-west and far north of England.

The county of Devon is also known as Devonshire, although this is not an official name and is not often used outside the county. The counties of Dorset, Rutland and Somerset were occasionally Dorsetshire, Rutlandshire and Somersetshire, but these usages are now considered archaic.

Hexhamshire was a county in the north-east of England from the early 12th century until 1572, when it was incorporated into Northumberland.

Shire names in Scotland[link]

In Scotland, barely affected by the Norman Conquest of England, the word "shire" prevailed over "county" until the 19th century. Earliest sources have the same usage of the "-shire" suffix as in England (though in Scots this was oftenmost "schyr"). Later the "Shire" appears as a separate word.

"Shire" names in Scotland include Aberdeenshire, Ayrshire, Banffshire, Berwickshire, Clackmannanshire, Cromartyshire, Dumfriesshire, Dunbartonshire, Inverness-shire, Kincardineshire, Kinross-shire, Kirkcudbrightshire, Lanarkshire, Morayshire, Nairnshire, Peeblesshire, Perthshire, Renfrewshire, Ross-shire, Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire, Stirlingshire, and Wigtownshire

In Scotland four shires have alternative names with the "-shire" suffix: Angus (Forfarshire), East Lothian (Haddingtonshire), Midlothian (Edinburghshire) and West Lothian (Linlithgowshire).

Sutherland is occasionally still referred to as Sutherlandshire. Similarly, Argyllshire, Buteshire, Caithness-shire and Fifeshire are sometimes found. Also, Morayshire was previously called Elginshire. There is currently much debate about whether Argyllshire was ever really used.

Shire names in Wales[link]

Shires in Wales bearing the "-shire" suffix include: Brecknockshire (or Breconshire), Caernarfonshire, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Monmouthshire, Montgomeryshire, Pembrokeshire, and Radnorshire.

In Wales, the counties of Merioneth and Glamorgan are occasionally referred to with the "shire" suffix. The only traditional Welsh county that never takes "shire" is Anglesey.

Non-county "shires"[link]

The suffix –shire could be a generalised term referring to a district. It did not acquire the strong association with county until later.

Other than these, the term was used for several other districts. Bedlingtonshire, Craikshire, Norhamshire and Islandshire were exclaves of County Durham, which were incorporated into Northumberland or Yorkshire in 1844. The suffix was also used for many hundreds, wapentakes and liberties such as Allertonshire, Blackburnshire, Halfshire, Howdenshire, Leylandshire, Powdershire, Pydarshire, Richmondshire, Riponshire, Salfordshire, Triggshire, Tynemouthshire, West Derbyshire and Wivelshire, counties corporate such as Hullshire, and other districts such as Applebyshire, Bamburghshire, Bunkleshire, Carlisleshire, Coldinghamshire, Coxwoldshire, Cravenshire, Hallamshire, Mashamshire and Yetholmshire.

Non-county shires were very common in Scotland. Kinross-shire and Clackmannanshire are arguably survivals from such districts. Non-county "shires" in Scotland include Bunkleshire, Coldinghamshire and Yetholmshire.

Richmondshire is today the name of a local government district of North Yorkshire.

Shires in Australia[link]

"Shire" is the most common word in Australia for rural Local Government Areas (LGA). The states of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia use the term "Shire" for this unit.

In contrast, South Australia uses district and region for its rural LGA units, while Tasmania uses municipality. Shires are generally functionally indistinguishable from towns, municipalities, or cities.

Three LGAs in outer metropolitan Sydney have populations exceeding that of towns or municipalities, but retain significant bushlands and/or semi-rural areas, have continued to use the title of 'Shire', possibly due to community demand or popularity, or for financial and socio-political gain. These three 'City-Shires' are:

• Sutherland Shire (which is commonly referred to as 'The Shire' )
• The Hills Shire ( 'The Garden Shire' , previously 'Baulkham Hills Shire' )
• Hornsby Shire ( 'The Bushland Shire' )

Shires in the United States[link]

In 1634, eight "shires" were created in the Virginia Colony by order of Charles I, King of England. They were renamed as counties only a few years later. They were:

• Accomac Shire (now Accomack County, Virginia)
• Charles City Shire (now Charles City County, Virginia)
• Charles River Shire (now York County, Virginia)
• Elizabeth City Shire (now the City of Hampton, Virginia)
• Henrico Shire (now Henrico County, Virginia)
• James City Shire (now James City County, Virginia)
• Warwick River Shire (now the City of Newport News, Virginia)
• Warrosquyoake Shire (now Isle of Wight County, Virginia)

Among these Shires of Virginia, the five noted above are considered to be still existent in somewhat their same political form in Virginia as of 2006, though three of them have vanished. Most of their boundaries have changed in the intervening centuries.

Before the Province of New York was granted county subdivisions and a greater royal presence in 1683, the early ducal colony consisted of York Shire, as well as Albany and Ulster, after the three titles held by Prince James: Duke of York, Duke of Albany, Earl of Ulster. While these were basically renamed Dutch core settlements, they were quickly converted to English purposes, while the Dutch remained within the colony, as opposed to later practice of the Acadian Expulsion. Further Anglo-Dutch synthesis occurred when James enacted the Dominion of New England and later when William III of England took over through the Glorious Revolution.

See also[link]

• Counties of England
• Counties of Scotland
• Counties of Wales
• Counties of the United Kingdom
• Gau
• Scirii
• The Shire in the Lord of the Rings
• Shire Horse
• Shire plc

References[link]

1. ^ Online Etymology Dictionary, entry "Shire", accessed 15 October 2011.
2. ^ Gareth Dean, Medieval York 2008:21.

Look up PLC or plc in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

PLC or plc may refer to:

Business[link]

• Public limited company, a type of limited company whose shares may be sold to the public
• Program length commercial, or infomercial
• Product life cycle, the succession of stages a product goes through
• Personal Line of Credit, credit extended by a financial institution to a customer
• Preferential Location Charges, PLC Charges for house plots which are 2/3 sides open/ Facing North/ wide Road etc.

Education[link]

• Performance Learning Centre, one element of the Communities In Schools education network
• Presidents Leadership Class, a leadership institution for undergraduates at the University of Colorado at Boulder
• Platoon Leaders Class, a summer training program for college students given by the Officer Candidates School of the United States Marine Corps
• Presbyterian Ladies' College (disambiguation), the name or former name of several independent girls' schools in Australia, affiliated with either the Presbyterian Church of Australia or the Uniting Church in Australia
• Professional learning community, a movement in the education field of teachers sharing with teachers to improve learning among their students
• Pymble Ladies' College, an independent, non-selective, day and boarding school for girls, located in Pymble, a suburb in the North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
• Post Leaving Certificate, is an informal term describing a large range of courses and qualifications run in Ireland for students who have finished their secondary education

Medicine and psychology[link]

• Peter Lougheed Centre, a hospital in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
• Pityriasis lichenoides chronica, the chronic version of the immune system disease Pityriasis lichenoides et varioliformis acuta
• Phospholipase C, an enzyme which cleaves PI(4,5)P2 to form IP3 and diacylglycerol
• Pathological Laughing and Crying, a disorder of emotional expression due to brain conditions, distinct from normal emotional cause and effect
• Posterolateral Corner, a region of the human knee

Politics[link]

Science and technology[link]

• Packet Loss Concealment, a technique to mask the effects of missing packets in VoIP communications
• Polymorphic Lambda Calculus, a typed lambda calculus with parametric polymorphism, also known as System F
• Portevin–Le Chatelier effect, the serrated portion of a stress strain curve
• Power line communication, including broadband PLC modes
• Programmable logic controller, a digital computer used for automation of industrial processes, such as machinery control in factories

Other uses[link]

• Pigmy Love Circus, a Los Angeles-based rock band
• Pine Lake Camp, a Salvation Army camp in Alberta, Canada
• Plastic
• Psycho le Cému, a Japanese visual kei rock band
• Pet Lovers Club
• Plafond Limité de Classement, the maximum allowed yield for wine producer that French wine regulating body (Institut National des Appellations d’Origine) establishes

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Look up bad news in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Bad news may refer to:

• Bad News, a spoof rock band
  • Bad News (Bad News album), 1987 album by Bad News
• Bad News (Ligeia album), the second album by Massachusetts' metalcore band Ligeia
• "Bad News", a song by Johnny Cash from the I Walk the Line album
• Bad News (magazine), a comics magazine published in the early 1980s by Fantagraphics
• Bad News (How I Met Your Mother)

See also[link]

• Good news (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.