MS drug data boosts Elan share price

ELAN shareholders’ roller-coaster ride took a sharp up-turn as high as 25% yesterday after positive news on multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri boosted investor confidence.

Shares in Elan and Tysabri partner Biogen Idec took a battering in February after it emerged that three patients on Tysabri clinical trials died from PML, a rare and often fatal central nervous system disease. In February, Elan’s share price tumbled 90%.

Yesterday, at the annual American Academy of Neurology (AAN) conference in Miami Beach, Florida, two-year data showed that treatment with Tysabri led to a significant reduction in disability progression, the rate of clinical relapses and brain lesions in patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis.