lan CFO Says Sales to Reach $1.2 Bln Next Year
Dublin, Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Elan Corp., Ireland's biggest drugmaker, said it's on track to meet its revenue forecast of about $1 billion this year and expects sales to climb to $1.2 billion next year, boosted by new epilepsy and migraine drugs.
The company expects to receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this year for its epilepsy treatment, Zonegran, Chief Financial Officer Thomas Lynch said at a Paris conference. He also said U.S. regulators were close to clearing Neurobloc, a treatment for cervical dystonia, and that a key migraine drug would be introduced next year -- even after regulators asked for more data on toxic side effects.
Elan is counting on those products, along with pain-killer Ziconotide, to cap its transformation into a major drugmaker that develops and brings to market its own treatments. The Dublin- based company started out by selling technology that helps rivals deliver drugs to the body through systems such as skin patches and time-release capsules.
Elan shares rose 50 pence, or 3 percent, to 1,650p on the London Stock Exchange. In the U.S., American depositary receipts rose 5/8 to 26 13/16.
Lynch, who spoke at a Paris health conference, said Elan aims to double revenue to $2 billion by 2003 and suggested he is confident the company can stick to its schedule of drug introductions. His timetable for the introduction next year of the migraine drug, to be called Migard, was more upbeat than that of partner Vanguard Medica Plc.
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Vanguard said last week it hoped to submit the additional toxicology data requested by the FDA by the fourth quarter of 2000, suggesting the drug won't reach pharmacy shelves until 2001. Elan shares slipped about 18 percent over the past week amid concern about such delays. Vanguard's shares also slumped.
The company will also file for FDA approval of another key drug, Ziconotide, in coming months, Lynch said. Elan expects U.S. regulators to give the drug, which aims to quell severe pains linked to cancer, AIDS and major surgery, expedited review, Lynch said.
As a result, Elan plans to introduce the treatment in the third quarter of next year, Lynch said. He estimated Ziconotide's peak annual sales would reach $300 million to $350 million.
Lynch also said Zonegran, Elan's epilepsy treatment, would probably generate peak annual sales of $150 million in the U.S. He didn't give a sales estimate for Neurobloc, which the company also plans to put on pharmacy shelves in coming months.
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