"Biogen Idec Inc. and Elan Corp.'s recalled multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri won approval by European regulators for patients with the severest cases of the disease.
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"The European Commission said the drug can also be used by those who haven't been helped by older treatments, the companies said yesterday. The medicine will enter the German and Irish markets by next month.............

``The speed to market and lack of requirement for a mandatory registry as part of the risk-management plan are more positive than expected," Goodbody Stockbrokers analyst Ian Hunter said in a note yesterday.

Biogen shares rose $1.99, or 4.4 percent, to $46.97 in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. Elan's American depositary receipts, each representing one ordinary share, rose 16 cents to $16.49 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
MS is a neurological disorder that erodes muscle coordination and balance, leading to paralysis and impaired vision in some patients. The US Food and Drug Administration approved the product's return this month.

An EU panel had recommended that Tysabri be approved for patients not helped by treatment with beta-interferon drugs, such as Biogen's Avonex or Serono SA's Rebif, or for patients with rapidly progressing severe disease.

Tysabri will be the most expensive multiple sclerosis treatment on the market. Elan will raise Tysabri's price 21 percent, with a vial of the medicine costing $2,185 in the United States, Elizabeth Headon, an outside spokeswoman for Elan said June 9.

Tysabri, which is administered 13 times a year, will cost $28,400 a year for each patient, up from $23,500 previously. Analysts including Orla Hartford at NCB had forecast that the price of the drug would rise by about 10 percent after the companies spent more to study its effects over two years.

The drug will probably reach $2 billion in annual sales, Hartford said."