Biotechnology company Biogen Idec, Elan's partner for developing the Tysabri drug, has reported first quarter profit of $132m, with sales of its MS treatment strong.
Revenues for the first three months of 2007 were $716m, an increase of 17% from the $611m reported in the prior year, driven primarily by a 14% jump in sales of Avonex, Biogen's therapy for patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, to €449m.
Biogen said global sales of Tysabri in the first quarter were $48m. It recognised revenue of $30m related to Tysabri - $17m related to product sold through Elan in the US and $12.7m related to product sold by Biogen Idec in Europe.
'Overall, the first quarter results met our expectations. Especially notable are the corporate market share gains in the multiple sclerosis market and the steady growth of Tysabri sales,' said CEO, James Mullen.
As of mid-April 2007, approximately 12,500 patients have been prescribed Tysabri worldwide, with over 10,000 patients on the therapy worldwide in the commercial and clinical trials settings, it said.
In the US, approximately 6,600 patients are on Tysabri therapy commercially and in the EU, approximately 2,500 patients have received Tysabri commercially, mostly in Germany and the Nordic countries, it said.
