Devastating news for Elan as third Tysabri patient death confirmed

There has been devastating news for Athlone-based pharmaceutical company Elan overnight after a safety evaluation of the drug Tysabri led to the revelation that a third patient using the drug had died.

Elan said the case had previously been diagnosed as malignant astrocytoma, but a reassessment revealed progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML, a rare infection of the brain and spinal cord) in a patient in a Crohn's disease clinical trial.