Drugmaker Elan said today it had repayed $450 million (€369.2 million) of debt that matured on June 28th, along with $21.5 million of interest.
The firm, which has hauled itself back from the brink of bankruptcy, said the repayment of the EPIL II notes would lead to a second-quarter charge of $33.4 million and that its cash balances, after the repayment, would still exceed $670 million.
Elan said its debt position had been cut to around $1.5 billion - some $1.1 billion of which is not due until 2008.
The company, once Ireland's biggest by market value, saw its stock collapse by more than 90 per cent in 2002 on fears about its liquidity in the face of massive looming debts and an inquiry by US authorities into its accounting practices.
Elan shares surged by 10 per cent in Dublin yesterday, closing at nearly €21 , after news its much-vaunted experimental drug Antegren was to receive a priority review from US regulators as a treatment for multiple sclerosis.
The fast-tracking of Antegren is being developed in partnership with US group Biogen Idec as a treatment for the bowel disorder Crohn's Disease and rheumatoid arthritis. It has transformed Elan's fortunes in recent months in tandem with the completion of a radical recovery programme.
Antegren for MS is expected to hit the market early in 2005, 18 months ahead of schedule.