Alkermes Wins FDA Panel Nod

Alkermes (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALKS]]), the Waltham, MA-based biotech company, received some good news today from an FDA advisory panel. The FDA’s panel of psychiatric drug experts voted 12-1 to recommend that the FDA approve Alkermes’ long-lasting naltrexone (Vivitrol) as a treatment for opioid dependence. The FDA, which usually follows the recommendations of its advisory panels, has until Oct. 12 to complete its review of the treatment. “If approved, Vivitrol would offer a new path to recovery as the first non-addictive, once-monthly medication for patients with opioid dependence,” Alkermes CEO Richard Pops said in a statement. The drug was first approved by the FDA in 2006 as a treatment for alcohol dependence. The product generated $20.2 million in sales in the most recent fiscal year, Alkermes has said.

Author: Luke Timmerman

Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.