Results Of A Survey Of Parents' Perceptions Of The Duration Of Their Child's ADHD Medication Reported At Medical Meeting

Main Category: ADHD
Article Date: 11 Nov 2007 - 9:00 PDT

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Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY, TSX: SHQ), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, announced results of a national survey where 60 percent of 121 mothers reported their 6 to12 year old child's once-daily Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) medication stopped working before 6 p.m. The survey findings report the perceptions of 500 parents of children with ADHD regarding the duration of effectiveness of their child's once-daily stimulant or non-stimulant ADHD medication and were presented yesterday at the 2007 Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD) Annual Conference.

This survey was conducted via Internet interviews of 249 parents of children with ADHD aged 6 to 12 years (125 took stimulant medications and 124 children took non-stimulant medications) and 251 parents of adolescents aged 13 to 17 years (126 took stimulant medications and 125 took non-stimulant medications). The children of the surveyed parents took their ADHD medication once daily in the morning.

Results of the survey found that among the 249 parents of children aged 6 to12 with ADHD, a majority of those children take their ADHD medication between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. Among 219 parents with children taking ADHD stimulant medications, 70 percent said that their child's medication lasted 11 hours or less.

Additionally, more than half of parents of children with ADHD aged 6 to 12 reported that their child's medication stopped working before 6 p.m. A graphical representation of this finding is available here.

"These survey results illustrate that parents may not see their children's ADHD medications working until 6 p.m.," said Robert Findling, M.D., lead author of the survey and Professor of Psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University and Director of the Division of Adolescent and Child Psychiatry at University Hospitals Case Medical Center. "This may be important because ADHD doesn't only impact a child's school performance but can also impact interactions with friends, coaches, and other family members."

This survey was supported by Shire plc.

About ADHD

Approximately 7.8 percent of all school-age children, or about 4.4 million U.S. children aged 4 to 17 years, have been diagnosed with ADHD at some point in their lives, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). ADHD is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents. The disorder is also estimated to affect 8.1 percent of adults, or approximately 9.2 million adults across the U.S. based on a retrospective survey of adults aged 18 to 44, projected to the full U.S. adult population. ADHD is a neurobiological disorder that manifests as a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that is more frequent and severe than is typically observed in individuals at a comparable level of development. To be properly diagnosed with ADHD, a child needs to demonstrate at least six of nine symptoms of inattention; and/or at least six of nine symptoms of hyperactivity/impulsivity; the onset of which appears before age 7 years; that some impairment from the symptoms is present in two or more settings (e.g., at school and home); that the symptoms continue for at least six months; and that there is clinically significant impairment in social, academic or occupational functioning and the symptoms cannot be better explained by another psychiatric disorder.

Although there is no "cure" for ADHD, there are accepted treatments that specifically target its symptoms. The most common standard treatments include educational approaches, psychological or behavioral modification, and medication.

Shire PLC

Shire's strategic goal is to become the leading specialty biopharmaceutical company that focuses on meeting the needs of the specialist physician. Shire focuses its business on attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), human genetic therapies (HGT), gastrointestinal (GI) and renal diseases. The structure is sufficiently flexible to allow Shire to target new therapeutic areas to the extent opportunities arise through acquisitions. Shire'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. Shire believes that a carefully selected portfolio of products with strategically aligned and relatively small-scale sales forces will deliver strong results.

For further information on Shire, please visit the Company's website: http://www.shire.com

The "Safe Harbor" Statement Under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act Of 1995

Statements included herein that are not historical facts 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 affected. The risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks associated with: the inherent uncertainty of pharmaceutical research; product development including, but not limited to, the successful development of JUVISTA® (Human TGFβ3) and GA-GCB (velaglucerase alfa); manufacturing and commercialization including, but not limited to, the launch and establishment in the market of VYVANSE™ (lisdexamfetamine dimesylate) (Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder ("ADHD")); the impact of competitive products including, but not limited to, the impact of those on Shire's ADHD franchise; patents including, but not limited to, legal challenges relating to Shire's ADHD franchise; government regulation and approval including, but not limited to, the expected product approval date of INTUNIV™ (guanfacine extended release) (ADHD); Shire's ability to secure new products for commercialization and/or development; and other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in Shire plc's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly Shire plc's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006.

http://www.shire.com