@Shanti, thank you for pointing out some of the most horrendous signs of alzsheimers & dementia, it’s a very deceiving illness and I witnessed it first hand with my Mother, one day they are here the next day there gone and it goes on like this for a long time in some cases, I was in denial also because I didn’t want to believe she had this illness. I found the Doctors took so long to diagnose her as suffering from Dementia, when they are having a good day you think they will be fine.
I hope they find some drug that will slow it down for every patient. They are a long way from finding the wonder drug..

You have no need to thank me.
I’m sorry to hear of your mothers diagnosis, I hope that her progression is really slow so she can stay “her” for longer, and that you have a good support network in place for yourself in this difficult time. Wishing you strength :)

Yes I totally agree.Not alone has the Journal missed the point but so have all the people that have commented so far.

At the risk of pointing out the obvious – it’s a question of two related things: firstly scale, and secondly where the stock value lies. The simple fact is that the two US firms massively dwarf Élan, now Alkermes, and therefore the impact of the potential lost or at least delayed earnings would by simple maths be to the greater detriment of Élan shareholdings. Secondly, the makeup of share value for the larger firms includes significant cash reserves, hard infrastructural assets, long term fully developed & commercialised (read bankable) therapies & contract manufacturing positions, at least relative to Elan. A lot of the smaller innovative firms with smarter, more attractive development portfolios, like Élan, avoid the pitfalls of infrastructure development & operational costs by licensing out molecules as is the case here to larger organisations. Some form of royalty or fee arrangement applies, and when this becomes the dominant source of revenue you live & die by the reputation of your pipeline. Just like Tysabril then, share value yoyos with good/bad news. That said, 2 or so full % point movements for the likes of Pfizer represents a significant amount of investment dollars.

The molecule & therapy are far from dead,just this application in this context. The ‘technology platform’ as it’s called in the business is solid and will yield results for patients in time – the question for both investors and patients alike is when, and in what presentation.

Cop on.

Michael that comment was not intended to cast a slur on sufferers of Alzheimer’s or their families but on the pharmaceutical companies that have our health system robbed.

Would you prefer to be sold a drug that didn’t work at all? Homeopathic remedy perhaps?

Bernie, Alzheimer’s is one of the most difficult conditions to live with, and fair enough, take a dig at the companies, but your comment didn’t make it clear which were taking out, those that live with the condition or those that try remedy it.
Either way, poor taste.