Shire targeted by potential buyers in EU, US: report

According to a report Wednesday in the Evening Standard, citing traders in London's financial district, some of the largest drugmakers in the EU and US have hired advisers regarding a potential Shire acquisition. Shire, which is said to have retained defence advisors in an effort to fend off low bids, declined to comment on the rumours. 

The speculation comes after Shire CEO Flemming Ornskov recently argued that investors were undervaluing the drugmaker. He highlighted the company's experimental and already marketed drugs, including its attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder treatment Mydayis (amphetamine mixed salts), which the FDA cleared last month, saying their value had yet to be fully grasped.

In 2014, Shire agreed to be bought out by AbbVie for about 32 billion pounds ($41.9 billion), but the planned merger eventually fell through following changes to US tax rules that aimed to deter inversion deals. Meanwhile, Shire expanded its portfolio of drugs for rare diseases via its acquisition of Baxalta last year.