Elan agreed to pay $1bn (€770m) for a share of the royalties on new drugs from Theravance as it tries to persuade shareholders to spurn a takeover offer by Royalty Pharma.

Elan has rejected Royalty Pharma’s near €7bn takeover approach, saying the offer substantially undervalues the company and doesn’t account for the Irish firm’s future prospects.

Royalty Pharma’s sweetened bid for Irish drugmaker Elan heaps pressure on Elan’s management to open its books to the US investment firm in the hope of a better offer, analysts and shareholders said yesterday.

Elan shareholders have unanimously voted in favour of the company’s share buyback plan, which will see nearly a third of the proceeds of its sale of multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri returned to investors.

Royalty Pharma, the US investment management firm interested in buying Irish biotechnology company Elan, has been set a deadline of May 10 by the Irish Takeover Panel to either table a firm offer for the company or walk away from the process for at least 12 months.

Elan’s chief executive Kelly Martin was paid just over $2.3m (€1.78m), last year — 20% less than in 2011.

Elan has sweetened the terms on offer to shareholders under its $3.25bn (€2.5bn) disposal plan, as it aims to stave off an approach for the company from US investment firm Royalty Pharma.

Elan has said it will consider any credible takeover proposal made to the company, but noted “the heavily conditional nature” and “highly opportunistic timing” of Royalty Pharma’s announcement that it has made an indicative proposal to buy the biotech firm for $6.6bn (€4.97bn).

Elan is set to return $1bn (€760m) to shareholders — roughly a third of the money it is due to receive from selling its stake in multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri.

Directors pay at Irish drug firm Elan fell by over $700,000 (€520,000) last year, with chief executive Kelly Martin taking a 24% pay cut.

Elan has announced a restructuring of its multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri deal with Biogen Idec, under which Biogen will fully own and control of the drug.

Management at Irish drug company Elan has downplayed talk of the business being “dolled-up” as a potential acquisition target.

Elan is to hive off its drug discovery division Neotope Biosciences and continue as a profitable standalone company — a move which has heightened speculation that it is trying to position itself as a takeover target.

Dublin: The latest safety update on the Tysabri multiple sclerosis (MS) drug — co-owned by Elan and US pharma Biogen Idec — has found nine new cases of PML, the potentially fatal brain disease and possible side effect of using the drug, in patients.

ELAN is anticipating its full-year earnings for 2011 will beat its previous $200 million (€138m) guidance.

THE owners of multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri have reported a further 10 cases of the rare brain disease PML as a side-effect of using the treatment.

IRISH pharmaceutical company Elan has said that it remains on course to achieve record revenue growth and EBITDA of more than $150 million (€116m) in 2010, despite posting a $215m (€167) net loss for the first six months of the year.

SHARES in Irish pharmaceutical company Elan fell more than 2% yesterday on the news that the company looks set to have to pay more than $200 million (€155m) to settle an outstanding investigation into the marketing of an epilepsy treatment it disposed of six years ago.

ELAN, the Irish pharmaceutical company, saw its share price slip by 4c yesterday on the back of seven more cases of a rare brain disease being reported amongst users of its multiple sclerosis treatment Tysabri.

BIOGEN IDEC – the Boston-based pharmaceutical firm which co-owns the Tysabri multiple sclerosis drug with Athlone-based Elan – is set to re-instate monthly updates of outbreaks of PML, the rare brain disease which is a potential side effect of using Tysabri, after announcing four further cases of the condition.

ELAN’S share price fell nearly 20.5% (88c) to €3.42 yesterday, after the European Medicines Agency said it planned to review Tysabri — the MS drug co-owned by Elan and US drug firm Biogen Idec.

INTERNATIONAL healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) formally became a significant shareholder in Irish pharmaceutical firm Elan yesterday as its amended equity investment deal was finally completed.

SHARES in Irish pharmaceutical firm Elan rose 20c, or nearly 4%, yesterday after it successfully fixed its Tysabri collaboration breach with Biogen Idec, by renegotiating its equity sale deal with Johnson & Johnson (J&J).

IRISH pharmaceutical firm Elan will have to restructure its €1 billion strategic development deal with US healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) before the end of this month.

ELAN’s share price rose yesterday despite the report of another case of the rare brain disease PML, a potential side-effect of the multiple sclerosis treatment, Tysabri.

MANAGEMENT at Irish pharmaceutical company Elan has re-iterated to shareholders that the |firm should be profitable by the end of next year, adding that the business had effectively turned the corner.

ELAN Drug Technologies (EDT) — the drug delivery arm of Irish pharmaceutical firm, Elan — stands to make nearly $8 million (€5.7m), before additional payments, from its manufacture of a new multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment for US pharma firms, Acorda Therapeutics and Biogen.

DUBLIN and Athlone- based pharmaceutical company Elan is hoping to conclude its ongoing strategic review in the near term, its chief executive said yesterday.

MANAGEMENT at the Dublin-headquartered pharmaceutical company, Elan have ceased using private jets to get to meetings in the US after investors reacted angrily to revelations that senior executives racked up a $6 million (€4.6 million) jet hire bill.

CONTINUED research into a treatment for the rare brain disease PML — which is a potentially fatal side effect of the Tysabri multiple sclerosis (MS) drug — could result in a marked acceleration in revenue at Irish drug-making firm Elan.

THE makers of the multiple sclerosis treatment, Tysabri — Irish drug firm, Elan and its US counterpart, Biogen Idec — have reiterated confidence in global patient numbers for the product rising from 35,500 to 100,000 in the next two years, even in the light of another death occurring among users.

IRISH drug company Elan has begun clinical trials aimed at expanding the treatment possibilities for its headline product Tysabri.

SEVERAL private equity companies have submitted bids for Elan Corp’s drug technology business, sources familiar with the situation have told the Dow Jones Newswires service.

THE Irish pharmaceutical company Elan yesterday refused to withdraw its drug Tysabri from the market, saying its side effects are worth the risk.

DUBLIN-based pharmaceutical company Elan could start benefiting from royalty payments from a new drug being developed by Johnson & Johnson as soon as next year.

Elan Corporation, plc today announced its full-year and fourth quarter 2007 financial results and provided guidance for its financial outlook for 2008.

ALMOST €33 billion has been wiped off the value of Irish shares over the last 12 months with almost €23bn slashed from banking stocks alone.

THE Irish market closed in negative territory in line with other European bourses yesterday.

ELAN said yesterday that it is fully committed to its multiple sclerosis treatment Tysabri after its production partner — the US-based company Biogen Idec — announced it was not about to be taken over and would remain independent.

Pharmaceutical giant Elan is to press ahead with the development of its landmark MS drug Tysabri, it was announced today.

THE controversial multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri is a step closer to becoming available for medical card patients.

ELAN, the Irish drugmaker that reintroduced its Tysabri treatment for multiple sclerosis in July, is seeking US approval for its use in Crohn’s disease.

ELAN said yesterday that trials showed Crohn’s disease patients being treated with its Tysabri drug remained in remission for longer than two years.

The ISEQ index of shares continued its upward trend this morning, gaining 36.17 to 7387.98.