BIOPHARMA GROUP Elan reported a 53 per cent annualised rise in sales in the third quarter yesterday, largely on the back of sales of its multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri.
The company also announced that it was withdrawing plans to sell its drug-delivery business.
However, it said the recent pattern of sales indicated that it might take longer than expected for Elan to hit its 100,000-patient target.
The company had expected to reach that figure by the end of 2010. However, on the basis of current patient additions, the number of Tysabri patients was likely to be closer to 60,000 at that point, said chief financial officer Shane Cooke yesterday.
"We would need to see an acceleration to get to 100,000."
Overall, the company and its US partner, Biogen Idec, are now treating 35,000 patients in the US and Europe.
Sales of Tysabri more than doubled over the same period in 2007 despite the announcement in July that a further two cases of the generally fatal brain condition progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) had been diagnosed in Tysabri patients.
There had been a slight reduction in the rate of people signing on for Tysabri following the PML revelations, but it was still adding 277 patients per week over the three-month period.
Elan said its loss in the three months to the end of September narrowed to $83.5 million (€65 million), or 18 US cents a shares, compared to $87.4 million, or 19 cents a share, in the corresponding period last year.
Mr Cooke described the figures as a "robust financial performance". Earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortisation dropped to $1.6 million in the period from $14 million a year previously. The company expects to be Ebitda-positive by the end of this year.
Elan did not upgrade its earnings forecasts for the full year, although Mr Cooke said it was likely to beat certain targets. Elan has pencilled in Ebitda loss of less than $50 million for 2008 as a whole. By the end of the third quarter this figure was running at $22 million, and the outcome is now likely to be closer to $25 million by year-end.
The company also expects to generate more cash than previously projected.
Chief executive Kelly Martin said the company had changed course on its plan to sell its drug-delivery unit as a result of the credit crunch. It said there had been significant interest in buying the business, but that access to credit had proved a problem.
He said yesterday the decision not to proceed would not impact adversely on the company's debt position. "The decision to sell was a strategic decision, not for balance sheet reasons."
Mr Martin said the company expected to have identified a new Dublin site for a biologics plant by the end of the year.
