Johnson & Johnson Takes Elan Gamble

Johnson & Johnson has decided to invest up to $1.5 billion in Irish Elan Corp., marking a costly move into the search for a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. Elan is a biopharmaceutical company that has performed significant research on drugs that could stop the progression of Alzheimer’s disease and on a vaccine that would eliminate the disease completely.
 
The investment sent Elan’s shares up 8.6 percent, from $7.00 to $7.60. On the other hand, Johnson & Johnson’s stock fell 1.9 percent to $55.98 per share. This move will make the latter company an extremely important factor in the market of Alzheimer’s …read more