DUBLIN, IRELAND, OCTOBER 13, 2003 -- Elan Corporation, plc (NYSE: ELN) (“Elan”) announced today that its drug delivery business unit, NanoSystems, and Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V. (Janssen) have signed a license agreement for NanoCrystal® technology. Under the license, Janssen and other Johnson & Johnson affiliates will be able to apply NanoCrystal technology to their proprietary compounds to develop and commercialize pharmaceutical products.

“We are very pleased that Janssen and Johnson & Johnson’s other pharmaceutical affiliates have chosen to incorporate the NanoCrystal technology into their drug development and life cycle management programs for poorly water-soluble compounds.”. said Dr. Joseph Fix, EVP and Chief Operating Officer of NanoSystems. “This agreement represents an important further validation of the NanoCrystal technology for overcoming the development and performance challenges that are encountered with poorly water-soluble drug candidates and is a key step in our initiative to establish NanoCrystal technology as an integral component of the drug product development process.”. The license agreement provides for technology transfer and product development support to Janssen and other Johnson & Johnson affiliates. Financial terms include research license fees, milestone payments for product development and technology transfer activities, and royalties on in-market sales of products commercialized utilizing the technology.

About NanoSystems and its NanoCrystal Technology

NanoSystems is a drug delivery business unit of Elan focused on the development of value-added pharmaceutical products for its clients through the application of its proprietary NanoCrystal Technology. NanoSystems has a strong pipeline of development projects and integrated development capabilities to support drug discovery activities, clinical product development and commercial manufacturing. There are currently two pharmaceutical products that have been commercialized that incorporate NanoCrystal technology and a number of additional product launches are anticipated to occur over the next two years.

NanoCrystal technology may enhance the clinical performance of poorly water-soluble drugs by transforming them into nanometer-sized particles. An increasing number of the drug candidates synthesized each year by pharmaceutical companies are poorly water-soluble. Most of these otherwise promising compounds are discarded because they are refractory to traditional formulation approaches. NanoCrystal technology has the potential to rescue a significant fraction of these chemical compounds. The drug in nano-form can be incorporated into common dosage forms, including tablets, capsules, inhalation devices, sterile forms for injection, with the potential for substantial improvements to clinical performance. NanoSystems is a business unit of Elan and more information on this technology is available at www.nanocrystal.com.

Elan is focused on the discovery, development, manufacturing, selling and marketing of novel therapeutic products in neurology, pain management and autoimmune diseases. Elan shares trade on the New York, London and Dublin Stock Exchanges.

This document contains forward-looking statements about Elan's financial condition, results of operations and business prospects that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described herein are the following: the success of research and development activities and the speed with which regulatory authorizations and product launches may be achieved; the ability to successfully market both new and existing products; difficulties or delays in manufacturing; and Elan's ability to protect its intellectual property. A further list and description of these risks, uncertainties and other matters can be found in Elan's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2002, and in its Reports of Foreign Issuer on Form 6-K. Elan assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.