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Biotech / Medical : Elan Corporation, plc (ELN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Icebrg who wrote (1759)	3/1/2002 4:49:07 PM
From: Icebrg	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10345

Elan Officer Sees Other Promising Alzheimer's Compounds By DEBRA MARKS Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES DUBLIN -- The chief medical officer of Elan Corp. PLC (ELN) said Friday that while the decision to halt trials of an experimental Alzheimer's drug was "disappointing," there are other potentially promising compounds that the company is pursuing. Speaking to Dow Jones Newswires, Ivan Lieberberg said that while "one never enjoys having to stop a trial," Elan has a "very large and committed program" to develop a cure for Alzheimer's. Earlier Friday, Elan and Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, the pharmaceutical division of American Home Products Corp. (AHP), decided not to resume further dosing of an experimental drug under development for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. "I have to admit that it was a bit of a blow," Lieberberg said, "but bear in mind that this is only one of several products that are in pre-clinical development that we hope to bring into the clinic as soon as possible." The companies suspended all clinical dosing with AN-1792 in January, immediately after learning that four patients in France were reported to have experienced clinical signs consistent with inflammation of the central nervous system. Since the companies halted dosing in January, 11 additional patients were reported with symptoms associated with CNS inflammation. "We look at this as an opportunity to monitor the safety issues but also to make measurements and look for signs of activity of the product," he said. The companies said no additional patients will be treated with AN-1792, but patients will continue to be followed to assess safety. All patients who experienced CNS inflammation have or are receiving medical care and most have shown improvement or have recovered, the companies said. In addition, the companies are collaborating with clinical investigators to better understand the cause of this phenomenon. "Why this occurred we still don't understand but we have lots of other different vaccines that we don't anticipate seeing the same side effects," Lieberberg said. "Our original thought was that the first two patients (who presented complications) looked like they had viral meningitis but that wasn't confirmed," he said. "Right now we have to assume that the problem is drug-related." Elan and AHP will continue to test and judge the efficacy of any new Alzheimer's drugs as single agents before possibly combining any compounds, although Lieberberg did say Elan anticipates combination therapy in the future. As for the migraine drug Frovelan, Lieberberg said Elan has yet to reveal its marketing strategy but would do so shortly, adding that there's a possibility that the Ireland-based drug maker may find a partner to help sell the product. Analysts say Elan needs a partner to help boost sales. NCB Stockbrokers sees $55 million in 2002 revenues from this product.