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Biotech / Medical : Monsanto Co. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (749)	12/10/1998 2:13:00 PM
From: jopawa	Respond to of 2539

Thursday December 10, 9:00 am Eastern Time Company Press Release SOURCE: Shire Pharmaceuticals Group plc Shire Laboratories Selected to Apply Drug Delivery Technology to G.D. Searle Product ANDOVER, England, Dec. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Shire Pharmaceuticals Group plc (Nasdaq: SHPGY, LSE: SHP.L) today announced that its U.S. drug delivery subsidiary, Shire Laboratories Inc. (SLI), has entered into an agreement with G.D. Searle & Co., a subsidiary of Monsanto (NYSE: MTC - news). Under the terms of the agreement Shire will use its proprietary drug delivery technologies, including Peptiscreen and Peptitrol which are designed to optimize oral delivery of pharmaceuticals, to develop an improved version of a product discovered by Searle. The agreement consists of a series of milestones, with payments due to Shire upon successful completion. Shire also will be reimbursed for its development costs. Other financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. ''We are very pleased that SLI was selected by Searle to further the development of one of its products,'' said Rolf Stahel, Chief Executive of Shire Pharmaceuticals Group. ''SLI, our U.S. drug delivery subsidiary, has a broad portfolio of drug delivery technologies that enhance both absorption and oral drug delivery. We believe this agreement confirms SLI's strategy of applying drug delivery technologies in the development of our own product pipeline, and in the development of improved formulations on behalf of other pharmaceutical companies.'' Comprised of a series of efficient, cell culture-based screening methodologies, Peptiscreen is a model used to test different drug formulations in the laboratory. Used in conjunction with Peptiscreen, Peptitrol is a family of drug delivery materials, formulation approaches and technologies that optimize oral delivery of compounds that are difficult to deliver orally. Shire has received several patents for this group of proprietary methods. Shire Pharmaceuticals Group plc Shire Pharmaceuticals Group plc is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused primarily on two therapeutic areas: central nervous system disorders and metabolic bone disease, with sales, marketing and R&D operations in the UK and in the US. Shire Laboratories Inc. SLI has developed a broad portfolio of drug delivery technologies that optimize oral delivery of pharmaceuticals. Certain of its technologies are used to provide controlled delivery, while others are designed to enhance the delivery of products with poor or erratic oral absorption. The company is focused on multiple drug delivery technologies designed to overcome specific drug delivery challenges. SLI's strategy is to apply its drug delivery know- how both in the development of its own products, and in the development of improved formulations on behalf of other pharmaceutical companies. G.D. Searle & Co. G.D. Searle & Co., the pharmaceutical sector of Monsanto (NYSE: MTC - news) Company, researches and develops pharmaceutical products and healthcare solutions worldwide. THE ''SAFE HARBOR'' STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995. The statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to, risks associated with the inherent uncertainty of pharmaceutical research, product development and commercialization, the impact of competitive products, patents, and other risks and uncertainties, including those detailed from time to time in periodic reports, including the F-1 Prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.