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DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) - Shares of Irish drug maker Elan Corp. PLC plummeted Thursday after the company confirmed that a third patient taking its suspended multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri had contracted a rare neurological disease.
Analysts said the latest suspected link between Tysabri and a usually fatal disease called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, or PML, undermined hopes that the drug would return to sale this year if ever.
Elan, which is developing Tysabri with U.S. company Biogen Idec Inc., had been counting on Tysabri's success to return the company to profit after three years of red ink and brutal restructuring.
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