com/reports/c15395) has announced the addition
of Purchasing Cards in Europe and the US to their offering.

- We forecast growth in all markets covered in this briefing. However,
this growth will not be evenly spread as there are a number of country
specific factors that will prove influential over the next five years.

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BASINGSTOKE , England, Shire
Pharmaceuticals Group plc (LSE: SHP ; NASDAQ: SHPGY ; TSX: SHQ) will announce
second quarter 2005 earnings on Thursday, July 28, 2005.shire.

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com (T: +44-(0)1256-894-160).shire.newscom. These cost savings are large and highly
visible.

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com in the investor relations section.researchandmarkets .

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(Logo: http://www.

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Details are
as follows:

UK dial in 0845-245 -5205
US dial in 18662474222
Stnd Int Dial In Number +44-(0)1452-55-00-00
Pin code 7659744 #
Webcast Replay http://www.

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Replay:
A replay of the presentation will be available for two week.com/reports/c15395

Laura Wood
Senior Manager
Research and Markets
press@researchandmarkets.

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Results announcement time: 12:00 BST / 07:00 EST
Conference call time: 14:00 BST / 09:00 EST

Live conference call:
Matthew Emmens, Chief Executive Officer and Angus Russell, Chief
Financial Officer will host the live conference call at 14:00 BST/09:00 EST.

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shire .

Scope of the report:

- Detailed analysis of the business case for purchasing cards and the
key factors driving the market

- Market data to the scheme level provided for France, Germany, Italy,
Spain the, UK and the US for the period 2001-2003

- The insights made are based on our in depth knowledge of the cards and
payments market

- Forecasts for the number of cards in issue, the number of transactions
and the value of transactions for each market, to 2008

Highlights:

- Purchasing cards offer businesses the opportunity to benefit from
significant cost savings as a result of re-engineering their
procurement processes.

- The market is influenced by a number of factors, the most important
being government policy.

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Reasons to Purchase:

- Gain insight into the purchasing card product, its strengths,
weaknesses and what makes the market grow

- Discover which markets are strongest at present and which offer the
greatest growth potential going forward

- Five year forecasts show how the purchasing card markets in France,
Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and the USA will look in 2008

For more information visit
http://www.researchandmarkets.

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A slide
presentation to accompany the call will also be available on the Shire
website.
For further information on Shire, please visit the Company's website:
http://www.

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Shire Pharmaceuticals Group plc: Second Quarter 2005 Results Date Notification - July 28 2005

It is no coincidence therefore that in the US
and UK, the two largest markets covered in this briefing, government
is a heavy user of purchasing cards.

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Please RSVP ssalah@uk .

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shire.

Purchasing cards allow issuers to capture a portion of the B2B payment
market and move it onto cards.

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The details of the live conference call are as follows:

UK dial in 01452-568-061
US / Canada dial in 1866-224-2972
Password Shire

Live Webcast:
The call will also be available live over the Internet via audio webcast,
accessible through http://www. But what is the business case for purchasing
cards? What drives the market? What does the future hold? This briefing
provides the answers. Issuers also stand to benefit from moving a large volume of
cash and cheque transactions to plastic cards .

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com in the investor relations section

If you have any problems accessing this, please contact: Souheil Salah
on: +44-(0)1256-894160
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. DUBLIN , Ireland, Research and Markets
(http://www.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040820/RESEARCH )
Retail cards continue to eat into the cash and cheque payment market but
progress has not been as swift in the commercial sector, particularly in
Europe.

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com.com
Fax: +353 1 4100 980