Shire hikes hyperactivity drug price more than expected

LONDON, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Specialty pharmaceutical company Shire (SHP.L) has put up the price for its leading hyperactivity drug Adderall XR by 20 percent, exceeding analyst expectations and prompting Citigroup to upgrade the company's stock.

The price increase outstrips the 7 percent increase for Shire's newer hyperactivity medicine Vyvanse and is expected to encourage switching to the new product.

The company is pinning its hopes on Vyvanse to drive revenues when Barr BRL.N gets the rights to start producing a generic version of its older blockbuster Adderall XR in April.

Citi upgraded the company to "buy/medium risk" from "buy/high risk", and increased its target price to 12 pounds per share from 10.90 pounds.

"Barr has six months exclusivity when generic Adderall XR launches in April; a scenario is emerging where Vyvanse could be 30-40 percent cheaper than generic Adderall XR for most of 2009, facilitating further market share gains," it said in a note.

Shares in Shire were 1.3 percent higher at 10.79 pounds by 1320 GMT, off an earlier high of 10.95.

(Reporting by Ben Deighton; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)