Elan Corporation plc was a major drugs firm based in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, Ireland, which had major interests in the United States. It was listed on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...

as ELN, the Irish Stock Exchange as ELN.I, and the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St P ...

as ELN.L. In 2013, the company merged with Perrigo to form Perrigo Company PLC.

History

The company was founded in Ireland by American businessman

Don Panoz Donald Panoz ( or ; February 13, 1935 – September 11, 2018) was an American entrepreneur who founded various pharmaceutical companies. Early life Panoz was an Italian-American. His father, Eugene Panunzio, immigrated to the United States f ...

in 1969. In the late 1990s, its value on the Irish Stock Exchange reached over

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

20bn. However, in 2002, an

accounting scandal Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...

and

investor An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Type ...

reactions to the global slump, caused a major devaluation resulting in a share price slump of over 90%. Since then the company has regained its growth path under the reign of a new American CEO Kelly Martin. In July 2010, Élan was fined $203m for its marketing of epilepsy drugs. In February 2013, Elan decided to dispose of the rights to sell Tysabri to Biogen Idec for $3.25 billion.

Products in development

neurology Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal ...

, Elan is focused on building upon its research and experience in the area of neuropathologies such as

Alzheimer’s disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As t ...

, where the company’s efforts include programs focused on small molecule inhibitors of

beta secretase Beta-secretase 1, also known as beta-site amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme 1, beta-site APP cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1), membrane-associated aspartic protease 2, memapsin-2, aspartyl protease 2, and ASP2, is an enzyme that in humans is enco ...

and

gamma secretase Gamma secretase is a multi-subunit protease complex, itself an integral membrane protein, that cleaves single-pass transmembrane proteins at residues within the transmembrane domain. Proteases of this type are known as intramembrane proteases. Th ...

, enzymes whose actions are thought to affect the accumulation of the amyloid plaques found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. An example of such a molecule is

semagacestat Semagacestat (LY-450139) was a candidate drug for a causal therapy against Alzheimer's disease. It was originally developed by Eli Lilly and Elan, and clinical trials were conducted by Eli Lilly. Phase III trials included over 3000 patients, but ...

. Elan is also studying other

neurodegenerative A neurodegenerative disease is caused by the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, in the process known as neurodegeneration. Such neuronal damage may ultimately involve cell death. Neurodegenerative diseases include amyotrophic ...

diseases, such as

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

. Élan, in collaboration with

Wyeth Wyeth, LLC was an American pharmaceutical company. The company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1860 as ''John Wyeth and Brother''. It was later known, in the early 1930s, as American Home Products, before being renamed to Wyeth in ...

, is currently conducting a

Phase III clinical trial The phases of clinical research are the stages in which scientists conduct experiments with a health intervention to obtain sufficient evidence for a process considered effective as a medical treatment. For drug development, the clinical phases ...

for bapineuzumab, an experimental humanized monoclonal

antibody An antibody (Ab), also known as an immunoglobulin (Ig), is a large, Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique molecule of the ...

with a targeted indication of immunotherapeutic treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. This humanized monoclonal antibody is designed and engineered to clear the

neurotoxic Neurotoxicity is a form of toxicity in which a biological, chemical, or physical agent produces an adverse effect on the structure or function of the central and/or peripheral nervous system. It occurs when exposure to a substance – specificall ...

beta-amyloid peptide that accumulates in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Although initial results from an earlier

Phase II clinical trial The phases of clinical research are the stages in which scientists conduct experiments with a health intervention to obtain sufficient evidence for a process considered effective as a medical treatment. For drug development, the clinical phases ...

presented in July 2008 were inconclusive, Elan is hopeful that bapineuzumab will prove successful in the treatment of this disease. In autoimmune diseases, Elan’s primary emphasis is studying cell trafficking to discover ways to provide disease-modifying therapies for

autoimmune In immunology, autoimmunity is the system of immune responses of an organism against its own healthy cells, tissues and other normal body constituents. Any disease resulting from this type of immune response is termed an "autoimmune disease". ...

diseases such as

rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and hands are invol ...

, multiple sclerosis, and inflammatory bowel disease. Research efforts are also focused on physiological and

neuropathic Peripheral neuropathy, often shortened to neuropathy, is a general term describing disease affecting the peripheral nerves, meaning nerves beyond the brain and spinal cord. Damage to peripheral nerves may impair sensation, movement, gland, or o ...

pain. Previously named Antegren,

natalizumab Natalizumab, sold under the brand name Tysabri among others, is a medication used to treat multiple sclerosis and Crohn's disease. It is a humanized monoclonal antibody against the cell adhesion molecule α4-integrin. It is given by intravenou ...

is a drug co-marketed by Biogen Idec and Élan as "Tysabri". Tysabri is a monoclonal antibody that inhibits immune cells from crossing blood vessel walls to reach various tissues, including the brain. It has proven efficacy in the treatment of two serious autoimmune disorders: multiple sclerosis, and Crohn's disease.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elan Athlone Pharmaceutical companies of Ireland Manufacturing companies based in Dublin (city) Companies formerly listed on Euronext Dublin Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange 1969 establishments in Ireland Pharmaceutical companies established in 1969 2013 disestablishments in Ireland Pharmaceutical companies disestablished in 2013 2013 mergers and acquisitions