Dublin-based pharmaceutical group Elan is on course for another strong performance this year and is hopeful of further drug approvals in the short term. Addressing shareholders at its annual general meeting yesterday, Elan chairman and chief executive Mr Donal Geaney said he would be delighted if 2001 turned out to be anywhere as good as last year.
"This company has never lacked ambition. We continually raise targets and want to improve on all aspects of the business," he told the meeting.
The company recently announced promising results for its Antegren drug, which is used to treat people suffering from Crohn's disease. This drug is also being evaluated in the next phase of its development for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Mr Geaney said the results of this phase would be issued at a medical conference in September.
"While we haven't had the opportunity yet to publish the data for Antegren, we have seen it and people should be extremely pleased."
Elan is awaiting two further approvals of drugs from the US Food and Drug Administration, including Ziconotide, a treatment for chronic pain. Mr Geaney said it had done everything possible to secure this approval and remained optimistic that it would happen in the short term.
"It is in the lap of the gods; they are good products and we are looking forward to launching them."
It has also completed the first phase of a treatment for Alzheimer's disease. Mr Geaney said it was still early days in terms of the development of this drug but the company was "fairly hopeful" that what it had seen so far was fairly positive. Elan reported a strong performance in the first quarter of 2001, which Mr Geaney described as a "remarkable achievement" given the scale of integration activity across the company.
Elan has been integrating the operations of its various US acquisitions, merging nine separate sales-forces to trade under the Elan brand.
Mr Geaney also told shareholders Elan had spent the past five years building a reputation with the medical community in the US and the company should now begin to reap the benefits.
