Shire has tended not to research drugs itself.

Shire has concentrated on niche market drugs

Rather it has concentrated on finding drugs in early stage development, then supporting them through licensing and later with marketing.

Alongside organic growth, much of Shire's expansion has been fuelled by an aggressive programme of corporate actions.

In the past six years alone, Shire has been involved in six acquisitions and mergers.

Rolf Stahel

Rolf Stahel took charge of Shire in March 1994, quitting competitor Wellcome, where he had spent the previous 27 years.

He oversaw the flotation of the company on the London Stock Exchange in 1996.

He soon became the darling of the shareholders as Shire's share price steadily grew from 175p to a peak of over �14 by early 2000.

A sharp fall, to less than 800p in March/April 2000, was followed by an equally spectacular recovery that saw shares hit their all-time high, �14.92 in November 2000.

Since then the share price has yo-yoed between mid-800p and �13. They are currently worth about �10.55.

Analyst comment.

Lehman Brothers' Kerry Heath says her company downgraded Shire stock in August 2001 from a buy to a market perform (broker-speak for it should hold its own but won't do anything spectacular).

She says Shire does have quite a few promising prospects in early development but warns these will take some time to come through to the market.