When the turbulent history of Elan comes to be written, it is possible that the financial mis-steps that imperilled the group in the wake of the Enron debacle will figure less prominently than the much less talked about acquisition of a small Californian biotech company in the mid-1990s.
The $600 million-plus all-stock deal that saw Elan acquire Athena Neurosciences in 1996 is looking more like a master stroke in the wake of the approval this week by the US Food and Drugs Administration of Tysabri (previously known as Antegren) as a treatment for chronic multiple sclerosis (MS).
At the time, Elan was involved primarily in reworking existing drugs for new applications. It had formed an alliance with Athena, a year previously, as part of a move to develop its own portfolio of drugs.
Almost 10 years on from that initial contact, the Athena gene pool has proved to hold the key to Elan's recovery following the drastic restructuring of the company.
Better still, the company has high hopes for the prospects of Antegren as a treatment of Crohn's, rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases. On top of that, its Alzheimer's drug development programme also stems from research acquired with the Athena deal.
Whether all this will be sufficient to rehabilitate the reputation of the pharma's former chairman and chief executive, Mr Donal Geaney, who had to step down when the financial burdens overwhelmed the company, remains to be seen.
After all, it was Mr Geaney who realigned Elan as a drug developer in its own right and Mr Geaney who snapped up Athena for what now appears a bargain basement price.
Antegren has been in development for almost 15 years at a cost likely to be somewhere between €100 and €200 million. Against that, Davy analyst Mr Jack Gorman estimates that the drug could yield peak revenues of between $3 billion (€2.26 billion) and $3.5 billion - and that is just as a treatment for MS.
The figures show both the financial risks incurred in drug development and the potential rewards for those who strike gold in the form of a breakthrough drug that can go on to dominate the market.
From initial trials in 1995, Antegren has had a relatively smooth passage through the drug development process. Its only setback as an MS treatment came in 1999 when data showed that it would not prove effective in treating acute attacks of multiple sclerosis - its initial target. However, the same test pointed the way to its potential as a treatment for chronic MS for which the FDA has now sanctioned it.
The failure of the drug to hit targets in a separate trial for its efficacy in treating Crohn's disease last year initially raised doubts about the prospects of Antegren for MS. However, there was no crossover in the two development programmes.
The company has yet to announce the pricing structure for Tysabri, though it will be at a premium to the $16,000 cost per patient a year commanded by rival Serono's Rebif.
One consideration will be the European market where approval is not likely until later next year and the price of existing treatments has been a barrier to securing European governments approval of such MS treatments.
In the end, the FDA ruled against Elan and Biogen on only one issue - the name. Antegren, it ruled, was too close to two other drugs on the market and that could lead to prescription errors.
While a setback, given the high profile and patient recognition of the long-awaited treatment as Antegren, the drug's probable blockbuster status in tackling MS means Elan and Biogen are unlikely to baulk at the marketing spend needed to promote it.
