"Elan Raises Tysabri Price as Drug Returns to Market (Update2) June 9 (Bloomberg): -- Elan Corp. will raise the price of
its multiple sclerosis treatment Tysabri by 21 percent when the
drug returns to pharmacy shelves next month.

The medicine will cost $2,185 a vial in the U.S., according
to Elizabeth Headon, an outside spokeswoman for Dublin-based
Elan. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave Elan and
partner Biogen Idec Inc. permission to re-introduce the
treatment this week.

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the drug, which was withdrawn last year after links to a deadly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

``This is $4,900 ahead of the $23,500 we have built into
our numbers,'' Ian Hunter, analyst at Goodbody's in Dublin, said
in a note to clients. It ``gives us further comfort in our
numbers and we believe will act as a support of the share price
at current levels.''

Elan shares fell 30 cents, or 2.4 percent, to 12.05 euros
at 10:50 a.m. in Dublin. They've gained 7 percent this year.
Hartford of NCB raised her U.S. peak revenue estimates for
Tysabri to $1.33 billion from $1.10 billion in 2010. She left
her European sales estimates unchanged.

Rebif, Betaseron
``This is a major topic for us,'' Elan Chief Executive
Officer Kelly Martin said on May 25, describing pricing
discussions with Biogen. ``The whole market has moved up by 20
to 30 percent.''
Serono SA's Rebif costs $22,875 for a year, while Schering
AG's Betaseron costs $19,289 and Biogen's older Avonex costs
$19,008, according to documents on the National MS Society's Web
site. The figures are the average annual wholesale prices for
the recommended dosage. Actual cost may vary, the group said."