Elan, which yesterday reported a smaller-than-expected fourth quarter loss on the back of good revenue growth and tight cost control, has said it hopes to relaunch Tysabri in the US in the second quarter of this year.
Elan said it was "optimistic" about the return of the multiple sclerosis treatment to the market and plans to spend $150-$170 million (€133-€140 million) on researching and marketing the drug this year.
Shares in Elan added 65 cent, or 5.5 per cent, to €12.55 in Dublin yesterday while in New York, their main market, they closed 1.15 cent higher at $15.80.
The company, which is due to hear from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in March on whether or not Tysabri can be brought back to market, said that it was in a position to relaunch the drug immediately if it gets the go-ahead.
It hopes European approval will follow, allowing it to launch the product in Europe in the second half of the year. For Tysabri to reach break-even point for Elan, the drug - which is expected to cost $23,500 per patient per annum - would need to be prescribed to 20,000 patients.
Meanwhile, the company is also making progress on its research into Alzheimer's disease, on which it expects to spend more than $50 million this year.
Elan's head of research, Dr Lars Ekman, said that it hoped to be able to move into phase three trials with one of its Alzheimer's drugs, currently dubbed AAB-001, later this year.
It is hoping to move a second drug, which is also being developed with pharmaceutical group Wyeth, from phase one to phase two trials and to begin clinical trials on a third drug in the latter part of 2006.
Aside from its co-operation with Wyeth, Elan is involved in two other approaches to the treatment of Alzheimer's, both of which are still at the pre-clinical stage.
Meanwhile, better revenues allied to tight cost management helped Elan to deliver better-than-expected fourth-quarter results yesterday.
The drugmaker reported revenues of $140 million in the fourth quarter, bringing full-year sales to $490 million, ahead of analysts' forecasts.
It managed to get its business, excluding Tysabri, to break even in the fourth quarter when it reported EBITDA of $8.7 million.
For the full year, it reported a loss of $217 million, better than its $240-$260 million target.
Elan is forecasting revenues of more than $500 million in 2006 from its non-Tysabri business while it expects a loss before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation in the $150- $175 million range.
The company expects continued growth from its hospital drugs, Maxipime and Azactam, despite the prospect of generic competition for the latter.
Elan's chief financial officer, Shane Cooke, said the drug technology division, which operates in Athlone, was not expected to have as spectacular a year as in 2005, when revenues rose by 58 per cent, but should still deliver double-digit growth.
The company, which reduced its debt by $300 million last year, plans to cut it by a further $250 million in the current year.
Mr Cooke said it had an option to force holders of $250 million of debt due in 2008 to convert their loans into Elan stock at a price of $7.42 this year, provided the Elan share price remains above $11. Elan had $1.1 billion in cash at the end of the year.
