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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Elan sees sales of prized Tysabri drug rise sharply, (NASDAQ: BIIB)

Elan said sales of the multiple sclerosis drug Royalty Pharma wants to get its hands on through its bid for the Irish drugmaker rose by 14 percent year-on-year to $456 million in the first quarter.Elan, involved in a convoluted takeover saga with Royalty for the past two months, rejected a reduced $11.25 per share bid from the U.S. investment company on Monday, saying it grossly undervalued its future prospects.While shareholders wait to see if Royalty values lucrative revenues tied to the blockbuster drug Tysabri enough to come back with a higher bid, Elan said it had $2 billion at its disposal to fund an alternative plan to rebuild the company.Elan sold its 50 percent interest in Tysabri for $3.25 billion plus royalty rights to U.S. partner Biogen Idec in February and has already spoken to several companies about spending the bulk of that windfall on acquisitions.

Biogen Idec Inc. (Biogen Idec) is a global biotechnology company. Shares of BIIB remained unchanged at $212.76. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $126.39 and as high as $217.80. On average, 1430700 shares of BIIB exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 0.



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