Elan boss: Climate improved for Alzheimer's drugs

The stakes are high for the experimental Alzheimer's drug bapineuzumab, which analysts give a low chance of proving effective against the memory-stealing disease. With a 25% stake in the drug, which Pfizer ($PFE) and Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) are developing, Elan ($ELN) has a lot riding on the success of bapineuzumab. And Elan Chairman Robert Ingram gave shareholders a bit of a pep talk ahead of pivotal trial data due to be released in the second half of this year. "We don't know the data yet but the environment today versus two years ago has changed for the positive," Ingram said, as quoted by the Irish Independent. The chairman noted that the White House has emphasized the need for new Alzheimer's drugs and regulators could stamp an approval on a drug that could show even modest benefits for patients. Article