Full Reset at Alkermes

Alkermes Inc.'s acquisition of the Elan Drug Technologies unit of Elan Corp. plc solves an immediate problem for the company. The deal eliminates much of the competitive pressure on Alkermes' largest revenue generator, Risperdal Consta risperidone, by giving the company a royalty stake in one of the only other long-acting atypical anti-psychotics on the market, Invega Sustenna paliperidone.

But the deal does much more, making Alkermes immediately profitable on a cash earnings basis and more than doubling its commercial portfolio, giving it the ambition to become a commercially minded company with its own products...