Shire Announces Winners of Spotlight on Gaucher Film Contest to Mark International Gaucher Day

Shire Announces Winners of Spotlight on Gaucher Film Contest to Mark International Gaucher Day

ZUG, Switzerland, October 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --



Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPG) is pleased to announce the winner and runner up of
the Spotlight on Gaucher film contest on the occasion of International Gaucher Day (IGD).
The film contest, which was supported by the European Gaucher Alliance (EGA), encouraged
people whose lives have been touched by Gaucher disease to share a video to raise
awareness of the condition and communicate a message of hope through shared experience. A
winner and runner up were selected from the 13 entries submitted from across the world
including Argentina, Columbia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Russia, Rwanda and the United
States.



The winning entries are:



1st place: 'My Daughter' (Argentina) - A story through the generations told via family
photos. Nora looks back at her daughter Juliana's Gaucher disease journey from diagnosis
in childhood through to her current life in adulthood raising her granddaughter.



Runner up: 'Morena' (Argentina) - The story of young Morena from her diagnosis of
Gaucher disease through to the present day and her passion for figure skating.  



"We would like to thank everyone who entered the contest and for sharing their
experience of Gaucher disease with the community," said Tanya Collin-Histed, Director of
Treasury and Administration, European Gaucher Alliance. "October 1 marks International
Gaucher Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness of Gaucher disease, and each video
entered will also help to raise awareness of this rare condition."



The winning videos were chosen by an independent external judging panel including
representatives from the EGA, The Ma'aleh Film School, and the Gaucher disease medical
and/patient community. Judging criteria focused on video creativity, storytelling and
awareness raising. The winner and runner up will receive an official contest certificate
and are being recognised as part of the IGD activities organized by the EGA.



"The Spotlight on Gaucher film contest has provided a platform for those impacted by
this rare condition to creatively articulate the effect Gaucher disease has on their lives,
" said Emmanuel Dulac, Head of the Rare Diseases Business Unit at Shire. "At Shire, we are
committed to working with the community to raise awareness of Gaucher disease. Through
initiatives that give patients and the community a voice, we hope to unite those living
with rare diseases and help to raise awareness of these life-altering conditions."



For more information on the Spotlight on Gaucher film contest and to watch the video
entries, please visit: http://www.spotlightongaucher.com or
http://www.youtube.com/spotlightongaucher.



About Gaucher Disease  



Gaucher disease is an inherited rare disease that affects approximately one in 50,000
people.[1] It is caused by the deficiency, absence or incomplete functioning of an enzyme
called glucocerebrosidase, which normally metabolises a fatty substance called
glucocerebroside. This causes a build-up of lipids in cells, resulting in progressive
damage to tissues and major organs including the spleen, liver, bones and brain.[1] Both
men and women are affected by Gaucher disease and although it can occur in any racial or
ethnic group, it is more common amongst people of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, where it
affects around one in 850 people.[1]



About the European Gaucher Alliance (EGA) 



The EGA is a pan-European umbrella group representing the interest of Gaucher patients
and those of non for profit Gaucher Patient Groups throughout Europe and elsewhere in the
world. For more information visit: http://www.eurogaucher.org.



NOTES TO EDITORS 



Shire enables people with life-altering conditions to lead better lives.



Our strategy is to focus on developing and marketing innovative specialty medicines to
meet significant unmet patient needs.



We focus on providing treatments in Rare Diseases, Neuroscience, Gastrointestinal, and
Internal Medicine and we are developing treatments for symptomatic conditions treated by
specialist physicians in other targeted therapeutic areas, such as Ophthalmics.



http://www.shire.com



References 




1) Baris MD, et al. Gaucher Disease: The Metabolic Defect, Pathophysiology,
Phenotypes and Natural History. Pediatric Endocrinology Reviews. 2014:12:72-78.


The Spotlight on Gaucher Film Contest is initiated, developed and funded by Shire.
Shire had no direct contact with the participants and the only influence on the content
was ensuring the videos are compliant with the terms of the contest. 



INTSP/C-ANPROM/GAU/15/0063



September 2015




 
For further information please contact: 
EmptyBreak:MARKER 
Media     
Lauren O'Brien, Shire 
lobrien@shire.com 
+41-44 288-4040 
EmptyBreak:MARKER 
Tanya Collin-Histed, EGA 
tanya@eurogaucher.org 
+44-1453-549231 


 



Shire plc


-------
Profile: intent