Elan Corporation plc was a major drugs firm based in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, 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, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

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

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

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 in 1969. In the late 1990s, its value on the Irish Stock Exchange reached over €20bn. However, in 2002, an accounting scandal and

investor An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future Return on capital, return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital the investor usually purchases some species of pr ...

reactions to the global slump, caused a major devaluation resulting in a share price slump of over 90%. 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 , "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine) , medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous syst ...

, Elan was focused on building upon its research and experience in the area of neuropathologies such as Alzheimer’s disease, where the company’s efforts included programs focused on small molecule inhibitors of beta-secretase and

gamma secretase Gamma secretase is a multi-subunit protease complex, 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. The most ...

, 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. Elan also studied other neurodegenerative diseases, such as

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

. Élan, in collaboration with Wyeth, conducted a Phase III clinical trial for bapineuzumab, an experimental humanized monoclonal

antibody An antibody (Ab) or immunoglobulin (Ig) is a large, Y-shaped protein belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily which is used by the immune system to identify and neutralize antigens such as pathogenic bacteria, bacteria and viruses, includin ...

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 – specifical ...

beta-amyloid peptide, that accumulates in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Although initial results from an earlier Phase II clinical trial 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 was studying cell trafficking to discover ways to provide disease-modifying therapies for autoimmune diseases such as

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

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

, and

inflammatory bowel disease Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine, with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (UC) being the principal types. Crohn's disease affects the small intestine and large intestine ...

. Research efforts were also focused on physiological and neuropathic

pain Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sense, sensory and emotional experience associated with, or res ...

. Previously named Antegren, natalizumab 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:

, and

Crohn's disease Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that may affect any segment of the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms often include abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, abdominal distension, and weight loss. Complications outside of the ...

References

External links

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