Elan Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of biotechnology company Elan (NYS: ELN) sank as low as 12% in intraday trading Wednesday on above-average volume.

So what: After a bad morning, the shares have steadily recovered along with the S&P 500, so Elan shareholders can breathe at least a small sigh of relief. The shares are down only about 3% at the time of publication, but remain up a whopping 80% in 2011.

Now what: I'd continue to keep the stock on my watch list. Without any company or industry specifics driving today's volatility, the bull case for Elan -- which centers on the exciting growth prospects of its Multiple Sclerosis drug Tysabri -- remains fully intact. In fact, a Seeking Alphaarticle this morning suggested that biotech biggie Biogen Idec (NAS: BIIB) is particularly hungry for that kind of potential, making Elan a tempting takeover target to boot.

Interested in more info on Elan?Add it to your watchlist.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributorBrian Pacamparaowns no position in any of the companies mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Fool'sdisclosure policyalways gets a perfect score.

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