Elan’s Q2 loss narrows

The company reported total revenue of $245.6 million for the second quarter of 2008, an increase of 30% compared to total revenue of $188.5 million for the corresponding period of 2007.

The increase was driven by a strong performance from Tysabri, with Elan’s recorded sales increasing almost threefold to $133.4 million in the second quarter of 2008. Total in-market sales of Tysabri were $200 million in the second quarter 2008, an increase of 177% over the $72.1 million recorded in the same quarter of 2007.

Revenue from the biopharmaceuticals business grew by 62% while revenue from the Elan drug technologies business decreased by 12%.

Shane Cooke, Elan’s executive vice president and CFO, said: “The continued acceleration in the growth of Tysabri, coupled with reduced SG&A expenses, more than offsets our increased investment in R&D, as a result of the continued progress in our key development programs, and the loss of sales of Maxipime due to generic competition.

“We remain on track to record adjusted EBITDA losses of less than $50 million for the year and to exit the year profitable on an adjusted EBITDA basis.”