Alkermes Announces Increased, $2.37 Billion Recommended Offer to Acquire Avadel Pharmaceuticals

Paul, Weiss is advising Alkermes plc, a neuroscience-focused global biopharmaceutical company, on its increased recommended offer to acquire Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc. The amended agreement, approved by the boards of both companies, values Avadel at approximately $2.37 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions.

Under the revised agreement, Dublin-based Alkermes will acquire Dublin-based Avadel, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, for total consideration of up to $22.50 per share, consisting of $21 in cash and one non-transferable contingent value right entitling holders to a potential additional cash payment of $1.50 per share. The transaction accelerates Alkermes’ entry into the sleep medicine market with the addition of Avadel’s U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved Lumryz, a treatment for cataplexy, or excessive daytime sleepiness, in patients at least seven years old with narcolepsy.

The Paul, Weiss team is led by corporate partners Chelsea Darnell and James Langston, and includes partners Timothy Cruickshank and Daniel Gerkin and counsel Nathan Mitchell; executive compensation partner Matthew Friestedt and counsel Annie Anderson; intellectual property partners Jeffrey Osterman and John Patten and counsel Matthew Rosenberg and Alex Zapalowski; tax partner Brian Krause; litigation partners Geoffrey Chepiga and Elizabeth Weiswasser and counsel Audrey Paquet and Natalie Kennedy; and antitrust partners Nicole Kar and Scott Sher and counsel John Magruder and Lauren O'Brien.