Elan shares in freefall after second death

Elan shares plummeted 67c to €4.90 as the ISEQ opened this morning, after news of a second confirmed death of a patient being treated on the company's multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri.

On February 28, 2005, Elan and its partner company Biogen Idec reported that they had suspended marketing of Tysabri based on one confirmed case and one suspected case of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a rare and frequently fatal disease of the central nervous system.