ELAN IS still on course to grab a 25 per cent share of the market for multiple sclerosis (MS) therapies by 2010, shareholders were told yesterday at the company's annual general meeting.

Chief executive Kelly Martin reiterated the company's target of 100,000 patients taking its Tysabri therapy by that time. But he noted that the market for MS therapies was larger than had previously been thought.

"Two-thirds of the patients now taking Tysabri have moved from existing therapies," he told shareholders but the other third were "new patients".

"The market is expanding by a third and, if that continues, the market is effectively larger than had previously been assumed," Mr Martin said.

Elan has previously reported that 26,000 MS patients were receiving Tysabri at the end of March.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Martin said the growth in patient numbers on Tysabri outside the US was "pretty significant" and continued to run ahead of forecasts. However, US patient enrolment is still running slightly behind projections.

"We think there is more upside in the US," he told reporters after the agm.

Mr Martin said annualised revenues from the drug had jumped from $500 million (€319 million) in the fourth quarter of last year to $600 million in the first quarter of 2008.

The company expects to record a 30 per cent increase in revenue from all products to $1 billion or more this year.

Shareholders approved a motion that will see the number of shares allocated to the company's long-term incentive plan almost treble.

When the plan was first established in 2006, a total of 10 million shares in Elan were reserved for disbursement to selected executives under the terms of the plan.

Yesterday, shareholders overwhelmingly approved a move to increase the number of Elan shares reserved under the plan to 28 million.

Laurence Crowley retired as a director of the company yesterday after 12 years on the board.