Elan in line for record growth

IRISH pharmaceutical company Elan has said that it remains on course to achieve record revenue growth and EBITDA of more than $150 million (€116m) in 2010, despite posting a $215m (€167) net loss for the first six months of the year.

That loss, however, was skewed by a once-off exceptional cost of $206.3m which covered the recent settlement in the US of a long-running legal case over sales and marketing violations regarding an epilepsy treatment, Zonegran, which Elan disposed of six years ago.

Excluding that exceptional item, Elan actually recorded a first half net loss of $6.5m; significantly down from the $113.3m loss generated in the same period last year. Total first half revenue was up, year-on-year, from $526m to $579.4m.