Pharma group Shire follows Valeant down

Pharma group Shire fell the most in a month as investors, who pummelled Valeant Pharmaceuticals stock, began to shun other specialty drugmakers.

Valeant shares fell the most to date after the drugmaker cut its forecast for the year, issued a press release with a $600 million typo and held a conference call that left analysts and investors baffled.

Specialty drugmakers like Valeant and Dublin-based Shire sell medicines that are priced much higher than treatments for high blood pressure and other common conditions.

Shire fell as much as 4.4 per cent and was down 3.3 per cent in early afternoon trading in London. Endo International, another Irish-headquartered specialty drugmaker, fell 23 per cent. Like Valeant, Shire has been on an acquisition streak. – (Bloomberg)