Elan's former president and chief executive officer, Mr John Groom, made a paper profit of about $12.08 million after exercising options on 300,000 shares earlier this month.

A document lodged with the stock exchange in Dublin revealed that Mr Groom acquired 300,000 shares at $14.25 per share in a transaction worth $4.275 million on August 3rd. On that day, Elan shares closed at $54.50 on the New York stock exchange, valuing the stock acquired by Mr Groom at $16.35 million.

Mr Groom retired on June 30th. His total holding of 420,000 shares - 0.14519 per cent of Elan - was worth $22.89 million on August 3rd.