Irish drug firm Alkermes sees revenues rise 15% in Q4

Company reports 21% rise in sales to $1.09bn and reduced losses in 2018

Richard Pops, chairman and chief executive officer of Alkermes. Photograph: Patrick  Fallon/Bloomberg
Richard Pops, chairman and chief executive officer of Alkermes. Photograph: Patrick Fallon/Bloomberg

Irish drug group Alkermes has reported a 15 per cent rise in revenues for the fourth quarter.

Sales jumped to $315.8 million in the fourth quarter. This compared to $275.4 million the previous year. The company’s loss per share remained broadly in line with the year-ago period.

For the year as a whole, the company reported a 21 per cent rise in sales to $1.09 billion and reduced losses.

Chief executive Richard Pops said 2019 would be an important year for Alkermes' late-stage pipeline.

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Regulatory review

This, he was, was “highlighted by the planned submission of the [schizophrenia drug] ALKS 3831 new drug application” and the regulatory review of the recently submitted application for a new multiple sclerosis therapy.

Alkermes suffered a setback last November when an advisory panel to the US Food and Drug Administration voted against approving a treatment for depression. The FDA confirmed that decision earlier this month, arguing that it needed more clinical data to provide “substantial evidence” for the drug’s efficacy.

Dominic Coyle

Dominic Coyle

Dominic Coyle is Deputy Business Editor of The Irish Times