--- title: "Alkermes faces direct-purchaser antitrust class action over Vivitrol patent" url: "https://aibio.space/news/alkermes-faces-direct-purchaser-antitrust-class-action-vivitrol-patent/" publisher: "aibio.space (Biotech Investor Relations News)" date: "2026-07-28" section: "Legal" tickers: "NASDAQ:ALKS" source: "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1520262/000119312526319022/alks-20260630.htm" summary: "Value Drug Company sued Alkermes, Inc. and Alkermes Pharma Ireland Limited in Massachusetts in October 2025. A December 2025 motion to dismiss is the lates" --- By the aibio.space news desk. Sources - [Alkermes 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 (SEC EDGAR)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1520262/000119312526319022/alks-20260630.htm) - [Alkermes 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 (SEC EDGAR)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1520262/000119312526068925/alks-20251231.htm) [ALKS](https://aibio.space/companies/alkermes/) 2026-07-28 # Alkermes faces direct-purchaser antitrust class action over Vivitrol patent Tickers [ALKS](https://aibio.space/companies/alkermes/) Value Drug Company sued Alkermes, Inc. and Alkermes Pharma Ireland Limited in Massachusetts in October 2025. A December 2025 motion to dismiss is the latest step the 10-Q reports. ## Key facts - **Company**: Alkermes plc (NASDAQ: ALKS) - **News type**: Legal - **Primary source**: [Alkermes 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 (SEC EDGAR)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1520262/000119312526319022/alks-20260630.htm) *The Capitol dome seen from below. Photo: U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Source), CC0, via rawpixel. The picture shows the field, not the companies named.* Alkermes plc (Nasdaq: [ALKS](https://aibio.space/companies/alkermes/)) disclosed in its [10-Q filed July 28, 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1520262/000119312526319022/alks-20260630.htm) that Value Drug Company has sued two of its subsidiaries, Alkermes, Inc. and Alkermes Pharma Ireland Limited (APIL), for antitrust violations in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The company's [10-K filed February 25, 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1520262/000119312526068925/alks-20251231.htm) dates the complaint to October 2, 2025. Neither filing gives a case number. The complaint was filed for a putative class of direct purchasers of Vivitrol, Alkermes' once-monthly injectable medication for alcohol dependence and for the prevention of relapse to opioid dependence. The defendants are Alkermes, Inc. and APIL. The filings name no individual defendants, and they do not name Alkermes plc itself as a defendant. ## The case The complaint alleges that Alkermes' U.S. Patent No. 7,919,499, which relates to Vivitrol, was fraudulently obtained, improperly listed in the FDA's Orange Book and wrongfully enforced. The plaintiff claims those steps delayed market entry for generic forms of Vivitrol. The filings do not give a class period. The lawsuit seeks unspecified money damages plus interest, reasonable attorneys' fees and other costs. The 10-K describes patent challenges to the same patent at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In December 2024, Argentum Pharmaceuticals LLC asked for an ex parte reexamination of certain claims of U.S. Patent No. 7,919,499, which the 10-K says covers Vivitrol. In January 2025, Apotex Inc. petitioned for inter partes review of certain claims of the same patent. The office discretionarily denied institution of the review in July 2025. In October 2025 it confirmed the validity of the claims challenged in the reexamination and found several additional claims Alkermes filed patentable. The 10-K says both challenges were resolved in Alkermes' favor. ## Defendants Alkermes, Inc. and Alkermes Pharma Ireland Limited are both wholly owned subsidiaries of Alkermes plc, according to the 10-Q. No officers or directors are named in the lawsuit as the filings describe it. ## Where it stands On December 19, 2025, Alkermes, Inc. and APIL filed a motion to dismiss the complaint in the Massachusetts court, according to the 10-K. The 10-Q, filed July 28, 2026, reports no ruling on that motion, no class certification and no discovery schedule. Alkermes says it "intends to vigorously defend itself in this matter." The 10-K also describes licenses that let generic Vivitrol onto the market. Under a confidential settlement and license agreement from August 2023, Alkermes granted Teva a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to sell a generic Vivitrol in the U.S. beginning on January 15, 2027, or earlier under certain circumstances. A July 2019 settlement with Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC gives Amneal a license starting on the earlier of that date, sometime in 2028 or earlier under certain circumstances. The 10-K does not say whether these agreements bear on the antitrust claims. ## Why it matters to shareholders The complaint seeks unspecified damages, so neither filing gives an amount at stake. The 10-Q says that at June 30, 2026 there were no potential material losses from claims or legal proceedings that the company determined were probable. For claims that are reasonably possible, it says no estimable loss or range of loss can be made. The 10-Q discloses no accrual for this case. The 10-K adds that the earlier patent challenges required expenditure of time, effort and resources even though they ended in Alkermes' favor. ## Related matters The same legal note covers the Lybalvi patent suits that Alkermes' subsidiaries filed against Teva, Apotex and MSN entities, a civil investigative demand from a U.S. state governmental authority that the company says it is cooperating with, and the Acorda arbitration dispute, in which the Second Circuit ruled for Alkermes on July 15, 2026. [Report an error](https://aibio.space/reputation/#correction) ## Companies in this story ALKS Alkermes plc NASDAQ ยท Ireland Open the desk ## More in Legal Legal ### [Alnylam details Texas patent suit, two Cipla patent cases and a U.S. Attorney subpoena](https://aibio.space/news/alnylam-details-texas-patent-suit-two-cipla-patent-cases-u-s-attorney/) Oct 29, 2026 Legal ### [Viking and Ligand dispute VK2809 license termination in San Diego court](https://aibio.space/news/viking-ligand-dispute-vk2809-license-termination-san-diego-court/) Oct 29, 2026 Legal ### [Viking's ITC trade secret ruling against Ascletis is on appeal at Federal Circuit](https://aibio.space/news/vikings-itc-trade-secret-ruling-against-ascletis-appeal-federal/) Oct 29, 2026 --- Source page: https://aibio.space/news/alkermes-faces-direct-purchaser-antitrust-class-action-vivitrol-patent/. Facts in aibio.space stories are checked against company filings and releases; opinion is labelled. Cite as: aibio.space, "Alkermes faces direct-purchaser antitrust class action over Vivitrol patent", 2026-07-28, https://aibio.space/news/alkermes-faces-direct-purchaser-antitrust-class-action-vivitrol-patent/