LEXINGTON, Massachusetts and SAN FRANCISCO, December 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPG) today announced an innovative partnership with CrowdMed, a Web-based technology that harnesses "the wisdom of crowds" to solve difficult medical cases online. Starting January 1, 2016, CrowdMed will be offered as a pilot to US Shire employees and covered dependents.

CrowdMed aims to use the collective knowledge of medical professionals, medical students and other interested parties to help initially diagnose difficult-to-identify conditions or to provide patients with second opinions on their medical diagnoses. Using a patented crowdsourcing technology, CrowdMed has resolved over 1,200 real-world medical issues to date with an over 60% success rate*.

Shire believes digital health is a disruptive movement that is already creating opportunities to leverage technology in ways not previously possible to the benefit of patients, medical professionals, and caregivers.  As a leading global biotech focused on rare diseases and specialty conditions, Shire embraces innovative ideas and partnerships to address unmet medical needs.

"This pilot program demonstrates Shire's commitment to exploring novel ideas and services to improve the lives of our employees and their families," said Shire's Chief Information Office Karl Hick. "CrowdMed may be able to provide a valuable alternative source of information for those struggling with a health condition."

CrowdMed Founder and CEO, Jared Heyman, commented, "We look forward to working with Shire to provide crowdsourced medical answers to every employee who submits a case on CrowdMed."

*Source: CrowdMed user reported data

NOTES TO EDITORS 

About Shire 

Shire enables people with life-altering conditions to lead better lives.

Our strategy is to focus on developing and marketing innovative specialty medicines to meet significant unmet patient needs.

We focus on providing treatments in Rare Diseases, Neuroscience, Gastrointestinal and Internal Medicine and we are developing treatments for symptomatic conditions treated by specialist physicians in other targeted therapeutic areas, such as Ophthalmics.

For more information, please visit http://www.shire.com. Follow Shire on Social Media: @Shireplc [http://www.twitter.com/shireplc ], LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/shire ] and YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/c/Shireplc ].

About CrowdMed 

CrowdMed,Inc. (http://www.crowdmed.com) harnesses the wisdom of crowds to collaboratively solve even the world's most difficult medical cases quickly and accurately online.

On CrowdMed, a patient with an unsolved medical mystery posts their case by answering a comprehensive set of medical questions, and uploading relevant diagnostic & imaging test results. Then members of CrowdMed's community of thousands of Medical Detectives select and collaborate on solving it using chat, discussion, and point allocation features. Meanwhile, an innovative prediction market system accurately identifies the most probable diagnoses and solutions.

The San Francisco-based startup has raised over $3M in venture capital to date from top-tier Silicon Valley venture funds, including NEA, Khosla Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners, SV Angel, and Y Combinator, to disrupt the $320B Medical Centers of Excellence market by providing vastly more accurate, timely, and cost-effective diagnoses online.

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

Statements included herein that are not historical facts, including without limitation statements concerning our proposed acquisition of Dyax Corp. (Dyax) and the timing and financial and strategic benefits thereof, the anticipated timing of clinical trials and approval, as well as the commercial potential, for DX-2930 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, Shire's results could be materially adversely affected. The risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, that: 


        
        - Shire's and Dyax's products may not be a commercial success;
        - product sales from ADDERALL XR and INTUNIV are subject to generic competition;
        - the failure to obtain and maintain reimbursement, or an adequate level of
          reimbursement, by third-party payers in a timely manner for Shire's products may
          affect future revenues, financial condition and results of operations;
        - Shire conducts its own manufacturing operations for certain of its products and is
          reliant on third party contract manufacturers to manufacture other products and to
          provide goods and services. Some of Shire's products or ingredients are only available
          from a single approved source for manufacture. Any disruption to the supply chain for
          any of Shire's products may result in Shire being unable to continue marketing or
          developing a product or may result in Shire being unable to do so on a commercially
          viable basis for some period of time;
        - the manufacture of Shire's products is subject to extensive oversight by various
          regulatory agencies. Regulatory approvals or interventions associated with changes to
          manufacturing sites, ingredients or manufacturing processes could lead to significant
          delays, an increase in operating costs, lost product sales, an interruption of
          research activities or the delay of new product launches;
        - Shire and Dyax have portfolios of products in various stages of research and
          development. The successful development of these products, including DX-2930, is
          highly uncertain and requires significant expenditures and time, and there is no
          guarantee that these products will receive regulatory approval;
        - the actions of certain customers could affect Shire's ability to sell or market
          products profitably. Fluctuations in buying or distribution patterns by such customers
          can adversely affect Shire's revenues, financial condition or results of operations;
        - investigations or enforcement action by regulatory authorities or law enforcement
          agencies relating to Shire's activities in the highly regulated markets in which it
          operates may result in significant legal costs and the payment of substantial
          compensation or fines;
        - adverse outcomes in legal matters and other disputes, including Shire's ability to
          enforce and defend patents and other intellectual property rights required for its
          business, could have a material adverse effect on Shire's revenues, financial
          condition or results of operations;
        - Shire faces intense competition for highly qualified personnel from other companies
          and organizations. Shire is undergoing a corporate reorganization and was the subject
          of an unsuccessful acquisition proposal and the consequent uncertainty could adversely
          affect Shire's ability to attract and/or retain the highly skilled personnel needed
          for Shire to meet its strategic objectives;
        - failure to achieve Shire's strategic objectives with respect to the acquisition of NPS
          Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Dyax may adversely affect Shire's financial condition and
          results of operations;
        - Shire's strategy to acquire Baxalta may not be successful: Baxalta may refuse to
          cooperate with Shire; if the proposed combination is consummated, the businesses may
          not be integrated successfully, including that expected synergies and other benefits
          of the combination may not be realized and unforeseen costs may arise; and disruption
          caused by the proposed transaction may adversely affect Shire;
        - Shire is dependent on information technology and its systems and infrastructure face
          certain risks, including from service disruptions, the loss of sensitive or
          confidential information, cyber-attacks and other security breaches or data leakages
          that could have a material adverse effect on Shire's revenues, financial condition or
          results of operations;
        - Shire's proposed acquisition of Dyax may not be consummated due to the occurrence of
          an event, change or other circumstances that gives rise to the termination of the
          merger agreement;
        - A governmental or regulatory approval required for the proposed acquisition of Dyax
          may not be obtained, or may be obtained subject to conditions that are not anticipated,
          or another condition to the closing of the proposed acquisition may not be satisfied;
        - Dyax may be unable to retain and hire key personnel and/or maintain its relationships
          with customers, suppliers and other business partners pending the consummation of the
          proposed acquisition by Shire, or Dyax's business may be disrupted by the proposed
          acquisition, including increased costs and diversion of management time and resources;
        - difficulties in integrating Dyax into Shire may lead to the combined company not being
          able to realize the expected operating efficiencies, cost savings, revenue
          enhancements, synergies or other benefits at the time anticipated or at all; and

other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in Shire's and Dyax's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those risks outlined in "Item 1A: Risk Factors" in Shire's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014. 


        
         
        For further information please contact:

         
        Shire      
        Michele Galen, mgalen@shire.com, +1-781-482-1867 
        Jessica Cotrone, jcotrone@shire.com, +1-781-482-9538

         
        CrowdMed      
        Julie Smith, julie@crowdmed.com, +1-215-219-9801 

 

SOURCE Shire plc