Alkermes to Acquire Avadel Pharmaceuticals in $2.1 Billion Deal

Paul, Weiss is advising Alkermes plc, a neuroscience-focused global biopharmaceutical company, on its all-cash acquisition of Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc. The deal is valued at up to $2.1 billion and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions.

Under the agreement, Ireland-based Alkermes will acquire Avadel, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, for total consideration of up to $20 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 7 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; 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; antitrust partners Nicole Kar and Scott Sher, and counsel John Magruder.