Shire sets its peer group

With a $1.6 billion breakup fee in hand from erstwhile merger partner AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV), Shire plc (LSE:SHP; NASDAQ:SHPG) on Friday reiterated its prospects as an independent company focused on rare and specialty diseases, comparing its business development strategy to the paths taken by Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) and Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ:CELG).

"We are confident in our strong prospects as a standalone company," CEO Flemming Ornskov said on the company's 3Q14 earnings call. He said the company believes it has "all the elements" required to deliver $10 billion in sales by 2020, of which $7 billion is slated to come from its current products and $3 billion from its pipeline. ...