TKTX Transkaryotic Therapies (MM)

TKT Stockholders Approve Acquisition by Shire CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc. (NASDAQ:TKTX) today announced that TKT stockholders approved the acquisition by Shire Pharmaceuticals Group plc. (LSE:SHPLSE:Nasdaq:LSE:SHPGYLSE: TSX:LSE:SHQ) for $37 per share in cash, or $1.6 billion in aggregate value, at the special meeting of stockholders by voting to adopt the merger agreement that the company entered into with Shire on April 21, 2005. The transaction is expected to close July 28, 2005. Lydia Villa-Komaroff, Chairwoman of the Board of TKT said, "We are extremely pleased with the outcome of today's TKT vote and that the stockholders of TKT agree that the acquisition by Shire delivers full, fair and immediate cash value to our stockholders." The Inspector of Election certified the following voting results with respect to the proposed Shire acquisition: 18,741,994 shares or approximately 52.6% of the shares entitled to vote voted "for" the adoption of the merger agreement, 9,890,989 shares or approximately 27.7% voted "against", and 47,416 shares or approximately 0.1% "abstained". TKT also announced that it has received written demands for appraisal from stockholders with respect to 12,318,765 shares of TKT common stock which represented approximately 34.6% of the outstanding shares of TKT common stock as of the record date. About TKT Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company primarily focused on researching, developing and commercializing treatments for rare diseases caused by protein deficiencies. Within this focus, the company markets Replagal(TM), an enzyme replacement therapy for Fabry disease, and is developing treatments for Hunter syndrome and Gaucher disease. In addition to its focus on rare diseases, TKT intends to commercialize Dynepo(TM), its Gene- Activated(R) erythropoietin product for anemia related to kidney disease, in the European Union. TKT was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with additional operations in Europe, Canada and South America. Additional information about TKT is available on the company's website at http://www.tktx.com/. Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the proposed transaction between Shire and TKT, and statements regarding the company's financial outlook, as well as statements about future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans or prospects, including statements containing the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "estimates," "intends," "should," "could," "will," "may," and similar expressions. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, including the failure of TKT and Shire to consummate the proposed merger for any reason, and including other factors set forth under the caption "Certain Factors That May Affect Future Results" in the company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2005, which are on file with the SEC and which factors are incorporated herein by reference. While the company may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so, even if its expectations change. Gene-Activated(R) is a registered trademark and Replagal(TM) is a trademark of Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc. Dynepo(TM) is a trademark of Sanofi-Aventis SA. For More Information Contact: Justine E. Koenigsberg Senior Director, Corporate Communications (617) 349-0271 Daniella M. Lutz Manager, Corporate Communications (617) 349-0205 http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990913/TKTLOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc. CONTACT: Justine E. Koenigsberg, Senior Director, Corporate Communications, +1-617-349-0271, or Daniella M. Lutz, Manager, Corporate Communications, +1-617-349-0205, both of Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc. Web site: http://www.tktx.com/ Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/120657.html

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