Elan shares fall as drug fails test

Shares in Elan fell yesterday when, together with US company Biogen, it announced that the Drug Antegren, failed an important clinical trail.

Antegren is an experimental drug for Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel condition affecting around one million people globally.

The trails did not succeed in meeting the target of a 70 point decrease in the Crohn’s Disease Activity Index by the end of week ten.

Elan and Biogen are also testing the drug for multiple sclerosis which would be much bigger market.

In Dublin, Elan’s shares fell 20% to close down €1.32 cents at €4.