Elan shares soar on drug review

SHARES in Elan gained almost 20% yesterday after the company said a safety review of its multiple sclerosis drug had shown no new cause for concern.

The drug, Tysabri, was withdrawn from the market in February after two patients who took the treatment with another drug had died of the brain disease PML. A third patient developed PML, but survived.

After a review of patients who had been taking Tysabri, no further cases of PML have been detected. Elan added that a safety evaluation in using Tysabri for treating Crohn’s Disease and rheumatoid arthritis is on track to be completed by the end of the summer. Elan and US firm Biogen Idec - which is developing Tysabri with the Irish firm, said almost 2,000 patients who were taking Tysabri underwent the safety evaluation and they were encouraged by the findings.