Elan takes 24% stake in US firm

ELAN has taken a 24% stake in US firm Proteotasis Therapeutics and said that it is likely to do another licensing deal within the next six months.

The Dublin-headquartered pharmaceutical firm already co-owns the leading multiple sclerosis treatment, Tysabri and recently sold its drug delivery business EDT for nearly $1 billion

It will seek to discover and develop new ways to treat such neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s, through the strategic partnership.

The company has invested $20m (€14m) for its equity stake and has the opportunity to provide an additional $30m in collaboration funding over the next five years.

Elan’s chief executive Kelly Martin said the link-up reinforces the Irish firm’s commitment and strategic business objective of being “an exceptionally high-calibre, science-driven company and provides a multitude of opportunities for Elan to advance its position as a world leader in the broad field of neuroscience”.

He also said that while Elan will remain focused on its neuroscience business, it could licence its science to other companies for uses outside of that sphere.