ALKS vs MRK

Alkermes plc

Alkermes plc, a biopharmaceutical company, researches, develops, and commercializes pharmaceutical products to address unmet medical needs of patients in various therapeutic areas in the United States, Ireland, and internationally. Its marketed products include ARISTADA (aripiprazole lauroxil), an extended-release intramuscular injectable suspension for the treatment of schizophrenia; VIVITROL (naltrexone for extended-release injectable suspension) for the treatment of alcohol and opioid dependence; RISPERDAL CONSTA for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder; INVEGA SUSTENNA for the treatment of schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder; XEPLION, INVEGA TRINZA, and TREVICTA to treat schizophrenia; and VUMERITY (diroximel fumarate) for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis in adults, including clinically isolated syndrome, relapsing-remitting and active secondary progressive diseases. The company is also developing LYBALVI (olanzapine/samidorphan), an oral atypical antipsychotic drug candidate for the treatment of adults with schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder; and nemvaleukin alfa, an engineered fusion protein to expand tumor-killing immune cells and to avoid the activation of immunosuppressive cells. It has collaboration agreements with Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V., Janssen Pharmaceutica Inc, and Janssen Pharmaceutica International; a license agreement with Acorda Therapeutics, Inc.; and a license and collaboration agreement with Biogen Swiss Manufacturing GmbH. Alkermes plc was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

Merck & Company Inc.

Merck & Co., Inc. operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health segments. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, diabetes, and women's health, as well as vaccine products. The Animal Health segment provides discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets a range of veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and health management solutions and services, as well as a suite of digitally connected identification, traceability, and monitoring products. The company has collaborations with AstraZeneca PLC; Bayer AG; Eisai Co., Ltd.; and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. It serves drug wholesalers and retailers, hospitals, and government agencies; managed health care providers, such as health maintenance organizations, pharmacy benefit managers, and other institutions; and physicians and physician distributors, veterinarians, and animal producers. The company has collaboration agreement with Gilead Sciences, Inc. to co-develop and co-commercialize long-acting investigational treatment combinations of Lenacapavir and Islatravir in HIV; Amathus Therapeutics to develop treatments for neurodegenerative diseases; and Linnaeus Therapeutics, Inc. to evaluate LNS8801 in combination with KEYTRUDA for patients with advanced cancer. It also has a collaboration with Biomed X Gmbh for building on ongoing research projects in the fields of oncology (DNA damage response and RNA splicing) and autoimmunity (intestinal epithelial barrier in autoimmune diseases); and a collaboration agreement with NGM Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. to focus primarily on the development of novel medicines for unmet patient needs in retinal and CVM diseases, including heart failure. Merck & Co., Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Kenilworth, New Jersey.