NanoSystems sticks with Elan

NanoSystems is seen as one of the most promising elements in Elan's remaining portfolio and is attracting some big names with its technology.

In September, the first product based on the firm's NanoCrystal Technology, Johnson & Johnson's transplant drug Rapamune (sirolimus), was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, and in October NanoSystems signed a second deal for the technology with Bristol-Myers Squibb.

The NanoCrystal technology is designed to improve the solubility of compounds with poor dissolution kinetics. It is estimated that around 40 per cent of all medicines on the market suffer from poor water solubility.

Kelly Martin, Elan's CEO, said that the company is entering the final stages of its recovery plan and the NanoSystems and acute care business, both of which are profitable, will form an integral part of the new company.

European sell-off​

Earlier this week, the company said that it was in negotiations to sell off some of its European sales and marketing operations to an unnamed third party.

This is the latest divestment in a firesale at the company, which has been going on for more than a year. Once one of the bright stars in the European pharmaceutical sector, the company's strategy of growth by acquisition came to an abrupt end when its borrowings outstripped its capacity to service them.

The company has already hived off its entire primary care business for $750 million (€613m), and a cash call in October yielded around $570 million. Meanwhile, earlier this month Elan sold four pain treatment products to US-based AaiPharma for $102 million, bringing asset sales to a total of around $2 billion.

However, the company has long-term debt of around $2.5 billion, and has said it wants to raise $200-$300 million from asset disposals by the end of the year. Analysts said that the European disposal, if successful, would go some but not all the way to meeting that target.