Alkermes buys into specialty pharma

Alkermes Inc.'s acquisition of Reliant Pharmaceuticals LLC checks two boxes in ALKS's bid to become a big cap specialty pharmaceutical company. The deal puts ALKS within spitting distance of the top tier of biotech companies valued above $3 billion, and, perhaps more importantly, provides the company with the marketing infrastructure to compete for in-licensing drugs.

"There's a major shift to size and scale in this transaction," said CEO Richard Pops. "We go from being one of the more expensive drug delivery/development companies to the best value in the specialty pharma space. It's a different business now. It's no longer a drug development business - it's now a commercialization story."...