Elan execs get $8M in stock awards

Elan's top executives got some good news recently: They've been awarded hundreds of thousands of stock options worth 6 million euros, or $8.16 million. The catch: They're spread out over the next three years, so to actually get their hands on all the stock, they have to stick around until 2013.

Elan had a big year in 2009: Its multiple sclerosis treatment Tysabri--sold in partnership with Biogen Idec--hit $1 billion in sales for the first time. And the company attracted a big partner in Johnson & Johnson, which took an 18 percent stake in the Irish drugmaker in return for an investment of more than $1 billion.

Along the way, CEO Kelly Martin saw his salary double to $1.67 million, plus a bonus of about $806,000. And now, he has 674,000 options priced at $7.05, which can be exercised over the next three years, plus another 124,000 in restricted stock units, which vest over the same period of time. Elan's stock was trading right around $7 at press time.

Other Elan execs got stock awards, too; they include CFO Shane Cooke, company secretary Liam Daniel and clinical portfolio chief Carlos Paya.

- see the story from the Irish Independent

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