Health & Healthcare

Statement from Alkermes on Response to COVID-19

May 1, 2020 5:35 PM ET

Originally posted by Alkermes

At Alkermes, we are closely monitoring and rapidly responding to the impact of COVID-19 on our employees and our communities, and we will continue to update this page periodically. As always, if you have questions for us, please refer to our contact page for information.

Updated: April 3, 2020

As we work together to navigate the rapidly evolving environment due to COVID-19, our priority continues to be protecting the health of our employees and that of the communities in which we live and work. At the same time, we are working to help assure that healthcare providers and patients have uninterrupted access to our medicines.

With this in mind, Alkermes has adopted a series of precautionary measures in an effort to mitigate the potential spread of COVID-19 in a community setting, while also enabling us to continue our critical business functions.

How We’re Helping to Keep Our Employees Safe

We have instituted a global remote work policy that will continue until further notice for those employees who can work remotely, including our field-based employees, and have suspended all in-person meetings and interactions with the healthcare community until we have determined that we can return to business as usual. We will make this assessment in consideration of national and local guidelines and in consultation with public health experts. We believe this is a prudent measure to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and prevent undue strain on our healthcare system. While we are restricting in-person interactions, we remain dedicated to supporting the needs of healthcare providers and patients through virtual interactions. For our employees who work on critical tasks in our labs and manufacturing facilities, we have instituted additional sanitization and social distancing practices to help protect their health and safety as they continue to advance important research and deliver medicines for patients.

How We’re Helping to Support Patients and Healthcare Providers

In these challenging and uncertain times, it is more important than ever that we support people living with serious mental illness and opioid and alcohol dependence to help assure that they have access to the information, resources and medicines that may help them on their treatment journey.

We are working hard on several fronts, such as:

  • identifying new providers who are currently available to administer injections of our medicines, including appropriate retail pharmacies and clinics;
  • updating our Provider Locator on VIVITROL.com and ARISTADA.com with new information on providers and injection sites; and
  • working closely with healthcare providers, pharmacies and payers to help navigate new challenges that may arise for patients in accessing their prescribed medications.

While we are regularly updating our websites, the best resource for information regarding our products and our patient access services during this time is our Patient Access Services staff who are available from 9am - 8pm EST. Our Patient Access Service team helps verify insurance benefits, finds treatment providers who are actively providing injections, helps eligible patients access our medicines, and addresses other questions you may have. Our Patient Access Services team may be reached through the following means:

How We’re Monitoring Potential Impact on Supply of Our Medicines

At this time, we continue to operate our manufacturing facilities and supply our medicines and do not currently anticipate any supply interruptions. However, we are continually assessing, together with our critical supply chain vendors, the potential impact of COVID-19 and efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 on our business operations.

We recognize that this is a dynamic situation. We are closely monitoring the latest information on COVID-19 in order to make timely, informed decisions designed to protect the health of our employees and support uninterrupted access to our medicines.

Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Statement contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including, but not limited to, statements concerning Alkermes’ expectations with respect to its business operations and continued ability to manufacture and supply medicines. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to various risks and uncertainties, including, among others, unanticipated impacts of COVID-19 on Alkermes’ supply chain or other business operations and those risks and uncertainties described under the heading “Risk Factors” in Alkermes’ most recent annual and quarterly reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof and, except as required by law, Alkermes disclaims any responsibility for updating or revising such forward-looking statements.

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