BASINGSTOKE, England and PHILADELPHIA, December 14 /PRNewswire/ --

- Worldwide Rights for all Potential Uses, Excluding U.S. and Japan

- No Other Existing Therapeutic Treatment for Celiac Disease

Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY, TSX: SHQ), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, today announces that it has acquired the worldwide rights, excluding the U.S. and Japan, to AT-1001 from Alba Therapeutics Corporation (Alba). AT-1001 is Alba's lead inhibitor of barrier dysfunction in various gastrointestinal disorders that is currently in Phase 2 development for the treatment of Celiac disease. Shire has acquired rights to all uses for AT-1001, which may also be studied for the treatment of Crohn's disease and other indications.

BASEL, Switzerland, December 14 /PRNewswire/ --

- Physicians Will be Able to Prescribe MabThera With Their Preferred Chemotherapy Regimen as Initial Treatment

Roche announced today that the European Union's Committee on Human Medical Products (CHMP) has given a positive recommendation for extension of the MabThera label to include use of MabThera combined with any chemotherapy combination as first-line treatment for follicular Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL), the most common form of indolent NHL. Physicians will now be able to prescribe MabThera with their preferred chemotherapy regimen as an initial treatment for their patients.

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, December 14 /PRNewswire/ --

- New Lancet Oncology publication provides important insights on the use of MammaPrint(R) Breast Cancer Prognosis Test in clinical practice

New research demonstrates that the MammaPrint(R) breast cancer prognosis test was successfully implemented in the diagnostic process of breast cancer patients in community hospitals in The Netherlands. MammaPrint(R) assigned up to one-third of the patients to different risk categories as compared to currently used risk assessment tools. In the majority of these situations, it may lead to a reduction in the use of adjuvant chemotherapy. The findings were published in the December issue of The Lancet Oncology.

STAMFORD, Connecticut, December 14 /PRNewswire/ --

The Thomson Corporation (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC), a leading provider of information solutions to business and professional customers worldwide, today announced that its controlling shareholder, The Woodbridge Company Limited, has indicated that it will reinvest 50% of its quarterly dividends in Thomson common shares during the first three quarters of 2008 in accordance with the terms of Thomson's dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP).

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020227/NYW014LOGO )

AMSTERDAM, December 14 /PRNewswire/ --

- A Classification for Innovative New Treatments

Kiadis Pharma announced today that its lead product ATIR has received approval for regulatory classification as a "cell based" medicinal product by the Innovation Task Force (ITF), a division of the European Medicines Agency (EMEA). Based upon this regulatory classification ATIR is eligible for EMEA procedures. As a next step Kiadis Pharma will file for orphan drug designation with the EMEA to obtain additional product protection upon marketing approval. In November this year ATIR has been granted orphan drug designation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

LONDON, December 14 /PRNewswire/ --

- Second Appraisal Consultation Document Fails to Provide Choice for Patients and Ophthalmologists

Pfizer Limited today expresses concern that the latest NICE appraisal consultation document (ACD) regarding the use of treatments for wet Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), fails to provide any treatment choice for patients or physicians, by recommending only one anti-VEGF therapy for AMD.

NICE's second ACD again fails to recommend Macugen(R) (pegaptanib) for patients affected by wet AMD in England and Wales, in stark contrast to Scotland where the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) approved its use.