UPDATE - Elan to seek EU approval soon for MS drug
Tuesday March 23, 5:50 am ET
(Updates with share price, analyst comment)
LONDON, March 23 (Reuters) - Irish drug company Elan (Irish:ELN.I - News) said on Tuesday it planned to submit Antegren, an experimental multiple sclerosis drug it is developing with Biogen Idec (NasdaqNM:BIIB - News), for approval by European regulators this summer.
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Elan's share price jumped 3.6 percent on the news to trade at 15.95 euros on the Dublin stock exchange by 1045 GMT.
"The early European filing...further supports the market potential for the product," Dublin-based brokerage NCB said in a research note.
"The European market for multiple sclerosis therapies is less penetrated than the U.S. and Antegren has the opportunity to significantly expand the market in Europe..."
Elan and Biogen surprised the market last month by revealing they were ready to seek approval for Antegren from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (News - Websites) (FDA) a year ahead of schedule.
That announcement sent shares in both companies soaring.
Elan has said that, if approved, Antegren could be on the market in early 2005, ahead of a previous target of 2006.
That would give the companies a step up on their rivals in the growing and hotly contested MS drug market, estimated by some analysts to be worth up to $4 billion.
The MS drug market is dominated by German-based Schering's (XETRA:SCHG.DE - News) Betaseron, Swiss-based Serono's (SEO.VX) Rebif, Israeli firm Teva's (NasdaqNM:TEVA - News) Copaxone, and Biogen's own Avonex.
Former stock market high-flier Elan is still struggling to recover from a 90 percent slide in its share price in 2002 on concerns about debts and a probe by U.S. regulators into accounting practices.
It is pinning its hopes on Antegren, which is also undergoing trials as a treatment for other complaints including the bowel disorder Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis.
Biogen, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has said it believes it can make a compelling argument for a swift review by U.S. regulators of the drug. |
