Elan's NanoCrystal technology which can offer enhanced commercialization opportunities is covered by 1,077 U.S. and foreign patents and patent applications and is part of a suite of technologies which Elan's Drug Technologies business offers to third party clients. The drug in nano-form can be incorporated into common dosage forms, including tablets, capsules, inhalation devices, and sterile forms for injection, with the potential for substantial improvements to clinical performance.

Irish drugs firm Elan Corporation, plc today announced that it has entered into a License Agreement with Abbott Pharmaceutical PR Ltd in which Abbott has been granted US rights, in a partnership with AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, LP, to utilize Elan's proprietary NanoCrystal Technology to develop and commercialize a single fixed-dose combination product containing the active pharmaceutical ingredients in Abbott's TriCor 145 (fenofibrate) and AstraZeneca's Crestor (rosuvastatin calcium) products.

Under the terms of the License Agreement, Elan will receive payments upon the achievement of development, clinical, and regulatory milestones for such new combination product. Additionally, Elan will receive royalty payments based on US sales of the combination product, if successfully developed and commercialized.

Under the License Agreement, Elan's NanoCrystal Technology may be utilized in the combination product in order to optimize bioavailability and absorption in patients. TriCor(R) 145 and Crestor(R) are both currently marketed and used to treat adults with high cholesterol.

TriCor, part of a class of medications called fibrates, has been shown to predominately reduce triglycerides, a form of fat or lipid obtained through food sources, raise HDL cholesterol and lower LDL cholesterol. Crestor is part of a class of medications called statins, which have been shown to reduce LDL cholesterol. The successful combination of the two products into one oral dosage form, could provide patients with a single treatment.

Presently, health care professionals are advised to consider carefully the benefits of the combined use of fibrate and statin drugs, in light of concerns regarding potentially serious side effects that could lead to acute renal failure. Rigorous clinical study of these agents in combination to evaluate their safety and efficacy is important for patients and warranted, and could produce an important new comprehensive cholesterol treatment tool for physicians.

"We are very pleased to execute this agreement, which follows on from the successful application of our NanoCrystal Technology in the current TriCor 145 product. We hope applying this technology will result in the successful development and launch of a combination product that will benefit patients", commented Paul V. Breen, Executive Vice President and Head, Elan Drug Technologies.