IRISH PHARMACEUTICALS group Elan beat expectations yesterday when it reported a second-quarter net loss of $68 million (€48 million), compared to a deficit of $72 million for the same period a year earlier.
The group anticipates returning to profitability on a pre-tax basis before the end of 2010.
Revenues at Elan grew by 14 per cent year-on-year to $281 million in quarter two, driven mainly by a 30 per cent increase in sales of its multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Tysabri.
The group’s president, Carlos Paya, said that uptake of the drug increased by 260 patients per week in the second quarter. At the end of June, some 43,300 patients were on Tysabri therapy worldwide. Tysabri was relaunched on the market three years ago following a 17-month suspension because of its link to a deadly viral brain disorder.
Earlier this month, the group agreed a deal with Johnson Johnson (JJ) which will see the US pharma giant invest $1 billion in exchange for an 18.4 per cent stake in Elan. It is expected that the deal will be closed in the second half of the year.
The company’s management confirmed yesterday that in the event of a change of control at Biogen Idec, the company with which Elan collaborates on the development and marketing of Tysabri, JJ could finance the purchase of Biogen’s 50 per cent stake in the drug.
“If they financed us, we would end up in a 50-50 collaboration with Johnson Johnson [on Tysabri],” chief financial officer Shane Cook said.
“Such a provision may indicate that JJ has more than a passing interest in the Tysabri asset,” Jack Gorman of Davy stockbrokers said yesterday. “If it was ultimately to become Elan’s partner in MS, we would view this as a good result.”
For the full year, Elan expects to record double-digit revenue growth and to be profitable on an adjusted EBITDA basis.
