Biogen shares fall in wake of Elan news

BIOGEN IDEC, Elan’s American partner in developing and marketing Tysabri, saw its shares fall 10% in response to yesterday’s news that cast further doubt on the drug’s future.

The company is the subject of a probe by American authorities, which are examining share dealing by senior executives just before news of the first deaths with a potential link to Tysabri was announced in late February.

Biogen said last week that it also faced five class action suits from investors as a result of recent developments. Shareholders have started legal action alleging Biogen, which is America’s number three biotechnology company, misled investors and that insiders made use of price-sensitive information to offload shares before the price crashed by more than 40%.