Elan shares rise after US Supreme Court ruling

Carey Sargent, Bloomberg

Shares of Dublin-based Elan rose 9 cent, or 2.9%, to 3.15 at the close of trading in Dublin. They have fallen almost 85% since the company withdrew its Tysabri drug on February 28 on concerns about lethal side effects. The case involved accusations that Elan’s Dura Pharmaceuticals unit concealed the failures of its Albuterol Spiros asthma-medicine dispenser in clinical testing. The shareholders said the company knew about the problems well before it disclosed in November 1998 that the Food and Drug Administration wasn’t going to approve the inhaler for sale.

The Supreme Court yesterday overturned an earlier judgment that said shareholder lawsuits need claim only that a company statement fraudulently inflated prices. The court said that lawsuits must allege a direct connection between the fraud and a decline in share price.