Tysabri boosts Elan

Data from recent clinical trials showed that Tysabri, a multiple sclerosis drug withdrawn from the market six weeks ago due to serious side effects, showed that Tysabri had reduced the risk of disability progress by 42 percent and the rate of relapse by 67 percent in 942 patients in the trials.

This news, coupled with the announcement that the drugs developers, Elan and Biogen, will enter into talks with regulators to explore the possibility of returning the drug to the market, sent shares in Elan, an Irish drug maker, up a remarkable 21 percent by early afternoon Wednesday, and Biogen, Elan’s U.S. development partner in Tysabri, gained 1 percent in after hours trade on Tuesday.

Tysabri was withdrawn from the market after two patients taking the drug were found to have a potentially fatal central nervous system condition. One of the patients subsequently died, and after the withdrawal of the drug a third patient was found to have the condition.

Analysts tend to doubt that the drug will return to the market, at least for the time being, after the revelation of its potentially fatal side effect, however. Shares in Elan lost 86 percent of their value in the wake of Tysabri’s withdrawal from the market.

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