Royalty Pharma's sweetened bid for Irish drugmaker Elan heaps pressure on Elan's management to open its books to the U.S. investment firm in the hope of a better offer, analysts and shareholders said on Monday.Royalty made its formal cash offer worth up to $7.3 billion, or $12 a share, ahead of a May 10 deadline for a firm bid, improving on an initial approach worth $11 per share that was rejected by Elan in February for being "highly conditional".The New York-based company, targeting royalty rights for multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment Tysabri worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually, said the offer may fall below $12 depending on Elan's pricing of a share buyback this week.Elan wants to reinvent itself through a series of acquisitions and reward shareholders with cash after selling its 50 percent interest in Tysabri for $3.25 billion plus future royalties to U.S. partner Biogen Idec
Biogen Idec Inc. (Biogen Idec) is a global biotechnology company. Shares of BIIB fell by 1.85% or $-3.83/share to $203.18. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $124.23 and as high as $209.00. On average, 1413630 shares of BIIB exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 514654.
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