Elan chief executive Mr Donal Geaney has made a paper gain of almost $900,000 (€1 million) after exercising share options. Mr Geaney bought 18,000 Elan shares at $8.31 and another 7,000 at $9.63 at a total cost of $217,000. The value of these shares at the current market price is worth just over $1.1 million.

After the purchase, Mr Geaney's stake in Elan has risen to 1.14 million shares which are currently worth more than $50 million.