BASINGSTOKE, England and PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, March 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY, TSX: SHQ), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, announces the release on March 25, 2008, of ordinary shares of 5 pence in the capital of Shire plc ("Shares") in connection with the Shire Long Term Incentive Plan ("LTIP").

In accordance with the rules of the LTIP, the following Shares were released:

Name of PDMR Number of Shares Released Mr M Emmens 75,408 Mr A Russell 46,634 Ms T May 30,746 Mr J Rus 23,365 Ms A Graham 18,843

The LTIP awards were subject to performance criteria and, in accordance with the rules of the LTIP, the number of Shares to be released was approved by the Remuneration Committee in 2007. Whilst the performance period is measured over three years, the Shares are only released after the fourth anniversary of the grant. The LTIP awards were satisfied by way of a cash payment, being a sum equal to the cash equivalent of the number of Shares released. The cash equivalent was determined by using the middle market quotation of the Shares on the business day preceding the day on which entitlement arose.

This notification relates to disclosures made in accordance with 3.1.4(R) (1)(a) of the Disclosure Rules and Transparency Rules.

T May, Company Secretary

Notes to editors

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.

Hampshire International Business Park, Chineham Basingstoke, Hampshire RG24 8EP, United Kingdom, Tel +44(0)1256-894000, Fax +44(0)1256-894708. For further information please contact: Investor Relations Cléa Rosenfeld (Rest of the World) +44-1256-894-160, Eric Rojas (North America) +1-484-595-8252