| Shire Pharmaceuticals Group plc Hampshire International Business Park, Chineham, Basingstoke RG24 8EP UK Tel +44 1256 894000 Fax +44 1256 894708 http://www.shire.com | EXHIBIT 99.01 |  |
21 March 2005
Shire Pharmaceuticals Group plc (the "Company")
Application has been made to the UK Listing Authority and the London Stock Exchange for a listing of 199,020 ordinary shares of 5p each in the Company to be admitted to the Official List.
These shares, ranking pari passu in all respects with the existing shares in issue, have been issued pursuant to the exchange of certain Exchangeable Shares in Shire Acquisition Inc., in accordance with the terms of the Merger Agreement with BioChem Pharma Inc.
T May
Company Secretary
For further information please contact:
| Investor Relations | Cléa Rosenfeld (Rest of the world) | +44 1256 894 160 |
| Brian Piper (US and Canada) | +1 484 595 8252 |
Notes to editors
Shire Pharmaceuticals Group plc
Shire Pharmaceuticals Group plc (Shire) is a global specialty pharmaceutical company with a strategic focus on meeting the needs of the specialist physician and currently focuses on developing projects and marketing products in the areas of central nervous system (CNS), gastrointestinal (GI), and renal diseases. Shire has operations in the world’s key pharmaceutical markets (US, Canada, UK, France, Italy, Spain and Germany) as well as a specialist drug delivery unit in the US.
For further information on Shire, please visit the Company’s website:www.shire.com.