BIOTECH GROUP Elan expects revenue growth of as much as 17 per cent this year as sales growth of the Tysabri multiple sclerosis drug accelerates.

Chief financial officer Nigel Clerkin said yesterday that sales this year would be $1.2 billion to $1.25 billion, up from $1.07 billion last year, excluding the drug technology business that Elan sold last year in a $1 billion-plus cash and stock deal.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation will be at least $200 million, up 36 per cent, the company said. The projections came as the company published results showing that sales of Tysabri jumped 14 per cent to $379.6 million in the fourth quarter.

Elan posted a fourth-quarter loss of $134.7 million, compared with $52.2 million a year earlier. Costs to cut jobs and close facilities widened the loss, as did charges for debt retirement and to write down deferred tax assets, the company said. Revenue rose 18 per cent to $271 million excluding the Elan Drug Technologies unit – well ahead of projections.

Chief executive Kelly Martin, who is expected to step down in May, said the results for 2011 had been very strong with “progress on growth and moving the business forward in all respects”.

Elan said as many as 90,000 patients had taken the new test to check JC virus antibody status – a key safety factor for Tysabri – with the numbers accelerating in a fourth quarter that saw US regulators agree to put the test on the drug label of risk factors, a measure seen as critical to maximising future growth.

The sale of EDT saw debt reduced by half, along with interest expenses. At the same time, the shares in Alkermes acquired as part of the deal led to a sharp increase in the value of cash and investments held by the group. – (Bloomberg)