Elan paid boss bonus of €725,000 last year

THE head of Irish pharmaceutical company Elan received a $1 million (€725,000) bonus last year, but the Dublin and Athlone-based company still slightly decreased its total remuneration outlay to directors.

Kelly Martin — who has been chief executive of the company for eight years — was paid $915,385 last year in basic salary, according to Elan’s latest annual report. When the bonus and other benefits were included, Mr Martin’s total package came to just over $1.96m — up from $1.66m in 2009.

The company’s other executive director, Shane Cooke — the company’s chief financial officer — saw his total package drop, slightly, from $1.66m to $1.2m; but still received a bonus payment (on top of his annual salary) of $540,000, although this was lower than the previous year.

Elan’s total remuneration for directors and executive officers amounted to $4.37m last year, down from $4.43m paid out in 2009.

Meanwhile, Elan said yesterday that it will be awarded nearly $80m in damages, via a legal settlement regarding a US chemotherapy treatment which was developed using some of its patents.

The company’s Elan PharmaInternational subsidiary has signed a settlement and licence agreement with Nasdaq-quoted, New Jersey-based biopharmaceutical company Celegene resolving the patent infringement litigation case dating back five years.

Elan took legal action against Abraxis BioScience in 2006 over alleged infringements of patents owned by the Irish company, in the development of the drug Abraxane. Celegene has since acquired Abraxis and will now pay Elan a once-off settlement of $78m. Elan will not get any additional royalty payments on the back of sales of the product.