EXHIBIT 99.01

HampshireInternationalBusinessPark Chineham  Basingstoke Hampshire RG24 8EP United Kingdom Tel +44 (0)1256 894000 Fax +44 (0)1256 894708 www.shire.com
Press Release

Purchase of Shares by Employee Benefit Trust

Basingstoke, UK and Philadelphia, US - June 11, 2008 - Shire Limited (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, announces that the Shire Employee Benefit Trust (the "Trust") has been requested to purchase up to $100 million of Shire Limited ordinary shares or American Depositary Receipts over the period 11 June 2008 to 31 December 2008.

The purchases will be made for the benefit of the Trust, in connection with Shire's management of its various employee share schemes.  Any such purchases will be made via irrevocable, non-discretionary rolling programmes.

For further information please contact:

Investor Relations	Cléa Rosenfeld (Rest of the World)	+44 1256 894 160
	Eric Rojas (North America)	+1 484 595 8252

Notes to editors

SHIRE LIMITED

Shire’s strategic goal is to become the leading specialty biopharmaceutical company that focuses on meeting the needs of the specialist physician.  Shire focuses its business on attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), human genetic therapies (HGT), gastrointestinal (GI) and renal diseases. The structure is sufficiently flexible to allow Shire to target new therapeutic areas to the extent opportunities arise through acquisitions.  Shire’s in-licensing, merger and acquisition efforts are focused on products in niche markets with strong intellectual property protection either in the US or Europe.  Shire believes that a carefully selected portfolio of products with strategically aligned and relatively small-scale sales forces will deliver strong results.

For further information on Shire, please visit the Company’s website: www.shire.com.