Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPG), the global leader in rare diseases, has implemented a new publication policy requiring the submission of all Shire-supported research manuscripts to journals that offer public availability via open access, allowing the public to obtain free, unrestricted online access to Shire's research promptly following publication. Shire's open access policy, which went into effect on January 2, 2018, was announced today at the 2018 European Meeting of International Society for Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP) taking place in London, UK, January 23-24.

"Shire's new open access policy builds on our commitment to transparency and reflects our dedication to helping patients by allowing everyone to freely access and learn from our research findings," said Christopher Rains, Head, Global Medical Affairs - Medical Shared Services at Shire. "We believe it's imperative to pioneer a new standard of access to publications that can encourage collaboration and drive medical innovation, with a goal of helping to bring innovative treatments to patients more rapidly. This may be particularly important when it comes to advancing new therapies for treating rare diseases."

Approximately 7,000 rare diseases have been identified yet the vast majority of these often severe and complex conditions have no specific treatment.

"I believe Shire is the first biotechnology company to mandate that its research be published under an open access model. This approach helps to ensure that research findings can be can be built on by the widest possible audience in a manner that maximises health and public benefit, said Robert Kiley, Head of Open Research at the Wellcome Trust, a charitable foundation that supports scientific research.

In a presentation and panel discussion at the 2018 European Meeting of ISMPP entitled "Time to embrace change in medical publishing," Mr. Kiley and Mr. Rains discussed the importance of increasing the accessibility of publications through open access. Although pharmaceutical companies fund around 60 percent of all medical research, the industry as a whole has been slow to adopt open access policies. With its commitment to an open access policy, Shire hopes to help usher in a new age of collaboration in global medical research.

Shire's open access policy further underscores the extension of the company's commitment to clinical research beyond developing innovative medicine. Shire believes that sharing clinical trial data with patients, healthcare providers, researchers and the public has the potential to improve public confidence in medicine and help all stakeholders make better healthcare decisions. Shire is thought to be the only company to report the results from all of its clinical studies posted on ClinicalTrials.gov.