Research on Tysabri pushes Elan shares up 7pc
Unison.ie (subscription) - Bray,Ireland
SHARES in drugmaker Elan finished up over 7pc yesterday to €10.71 following positive research results from its multiple sclerosis treatment Tysabri. ...
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Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA) Reports Results of COPAXONE in Patients ...
StreetInsider.com (subscription) - Birmingham,MI,USA
Also, New data have demonstrated that relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients treated with COPAXONE following brief immunosuppression with ...
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dBusinessNews St. Louis (press release) - St. Louis,MO,USA
Additionally, the nine-month study demonstrated that treatment with COPAXONE® in combination with minocycline reduced the number of new T2 lesions in ...
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Research on Tysabri pushes Elan shares up 7pc
Friday May 4th 2007
http://www.unison.ie/business/stories.php3?ca=81&si=1824862

SHARES in drugmaker Elan finished up over 7pc yesterday to €10.71 following positive research results from its multiple sclerosis treatment Tysabri.

More than 10,000 patients have taken Elan and Biogen Idec's multiple sclerosis treatment with no new cases of the fatal brain infection called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) that was tied to the drug two years ago.

While welcoming the news, some analysts said it will require a longer duration of therapy to make neurologists comfortable with Tysabri's benefit/risk profile.

The findings were part of a safety review the companies conducted of patients that have taken the drug since its return to the market last July. The report was presented yesterday at a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Boston.

Tysabri was linked to three cases of PML resulting in the drug's withdrawal in February 2005. US regulators allowed the return of the drug after ordering a strict safety programme to monitor Tysabri users.

Earlier safety analysis, conducted by the National Institute of Health and published in the New England Journal of Medicine in March, found that Tysabri posed a risk of PML in one out of 1,000 patients. That figure was based on three cases reported out of 3,417 patients who had taken the drug in clinical trials.

Two patients taking Tysabri in combination with Biogen's older multiple sclerosis drug, Avonex, died from PML.

Ailish O'Hora