Eyeworld

EW NEWS & OPINION 14 May 2016 Chief medical editor's corner of the world Eric Donnenfeld, MD, hosts an informative Q&A with Shire's Robert Dempsey Seeing an unmet need in ophthal- mic diseases, Shire Pharmaceuticals (Lexington, Massachusetts), a company that's been specializing in treatments for rare diseases for 3 decades, made the strategic decision to break into the eyecare market in 2014. Since then, the company headquartered in Dublin, Ire- land, with offices around the world, in- cluding in the greater Boston area, has acquired promising ophthalmic start- ups and has focused on growing its research and development team in the ophthalmic field. Eric Donnenfeld, MD, Ophthalmic Consultants of Long Island, Rockville Centre, New York, and EyeWorld chief medical editor, recently spoke with Robert Dempsey, Shire vice president and head of the company's emerging ophthalmics business unit, about its mission and what industry might come to expect from Shire as it's breaking into the eyecare market. Dr. Donnenfeld: There are a number of great companies and extraordinary people who work in the field of eyecare, and EyeWorld would like to introduce readers to 1 of those individuals. I'm here with an old friend Robert Dempsey, who is the vice president and business unit head at Shire. I had never heard of Shire 2 years ago, and now I see the name mentioned prominently at areas. Can you tell us about the background of Shire? What are some of the other interests of this company? Mr. Dempsey: The ophthalmics business unit is 1 of 5 business units at Shire. The hallmark of Shire has been the neuroscience business unit. The neuroscience business unit has a strong standing in the neurosci- ence space, in particular in attention deficit disorder. We have the seventh most prescribed drug in the U.S., a product called Vyvanse (lisdexamfet- amine dimesylate). In addition to neuroscience, Shire has a strong play in various rare diseases. They include heredi- tary angioedema, Gaucher's disease, and Hunter's disease. In the rare disease space, Shire has a strong position in the enzyme replacement therapies. In addition, Shire has a strong play in the [gastrointestinal] space and the internal medicine space. We have products such as Lialda (mesal- amine), which is a market leader for a condition called ulcerative colitis. In each 1 of these business units, Shire has either a first or second position with its various products, and we think that with our commitment and focus on re- search and development, Shire could be the next leader in the ophthalmic space. With regard to research and development, Shire is very proud of the following statistics. Approxi- mately 20% of our entire workforce is dedicated to the research and development function, so approxi- mately 1,000 employees of our 5,000 employees are dedicated to the research and development function. In addition, in 2014 Shire allocated approximately $800 million, and in 2015 approximately $860 million has been invested into research and development. This would range from preclinical opportunities right up until phase 4. Shire has taken what our CEO says is a block- ing-and-tackling approach to the pharmaceutical industry. We believe in organic development of our pipe- line, as well as supplementing our pipeline through mergers and acqui- sitions, in which Shire has been very active over the past 2 to 3 years. EyeWorld chief medical editor interviews pharmaceutical company executive Robert Dempsey Shire's leadership team gathered earlier this year to discuss the latest in eye health and upcoming advancements. Together the team represents decades of eyecare experience. Source: Robert Dempsey Eric Donnenfeld, MD every meeting I attend, but I don't see any products being promoted. Can you tell us about Shire? Mr. Dempsey: Shire is a company dedicated to specialty pharmaceu- ticals and rare diseases. Within the pharmaceutical space, Shire has recently decided that the ophthal- mic industry is of particular interest to us because we think there are significant, unmet needs in various ophthalmic diseases and that there's a tremendous need for innovation. So the core to Shire is this focus and desire to be in areas in which there are significant, unmet needs. Look across the anterior segment and posterior segment at diseases in which Shire is very interested in working—dry eye disease, infectious conjunctivitis, for example, adeno- viral conjunctivitis, and conditions of the posterior segment, such as retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and retinitis pigmentosa. We want to dedicate resources toward work- ing in this particular disease space. Dr. Donnenfeld: That's certainly very interesting, but I understand that Shire also has interests in other

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