Alkermes (company)

Alkermes plc is a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on central nervous system (CNS) diseases. The company is the result of a merger in September 2011 between Alkermes, Inc. and Elan Drug Technologies (EDT), the former drug formulation and manufacturing division of Élan Corporation, plc. The company is headquartered in Dublin, and has an R&D center in Waltham, Massachusetts and manufacturing facilities in Athlone, Ireland; Gainesville, Georgia; and Wilmington, Ohio.

Products

Alkermes has more than 20 commercial drug products and candidates that address serious and chronic diseases such as addiction, schizophrenia, diabetes and depression. Among these, five products are primary to the company: risperidone long-acting Injection (generic for Risperdal Consta) for schizophrenia and bipolar 1 disorder,paliperidone palmitate (generic for Invega Sustenna in the U.S., Xeplion in Europe) for schizophrenia,4-aminopyridine (generic for Ampyra in the U.S., Fampyra in Europe) to improve walking in patients with multiple sclerosis,naltrexone for extended-release injectable suspension (generic for Vivitrol) for alcohol and opioid dependence, and exenatide extended-release for injectable suspension (generic for Bydureon) for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Bydureon is a once-weekly, extended-release form of the drug, exenatide (Byetta), and was developed through a partnership between Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Alkermes and Eli Lilly. It is approved in Europe and the U.S.