Jim Cramer Recently Looked at These 25 Stocks

17. Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 46

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer recently looked at. When a caller asked Cramer about the stock, he said:

Okay… by this point, something should have happened, much better there than it has. I do not recommend the stock. I think it’s a hold, maybe a weak one.

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and sells medicines to treat schizophrenia, bipolar I disorder, and addiction to alcohol or opioids. On January 6, the company announced that the FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to its alixorexton therapy for the treatment of narcolepsy type 1, as it showed positive results from the phase 1 and phase 2 study. The trial of 92 patients showed that the oral orexin 2 receptor agonist met its primary endpoint by providing statistically significant, dose-dependent improvements in wakefulness. Craig Hopkinson, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Research & Development at Alkermes, remarked:

Alixorexton may offer substantial improvements over available therapy for people living with narcolepsy type 1, a community that has continued to face profound unmet medical needs despite available treatments. This Breakthrough Therapy designation underscores the strength of alixorexton’s initial clinical data and supports our conviction that targeting the orexin pathway has the potential to fundamentally shift treatment expectations for central disorders of hypersomnolence. If approved, alixorexton’s differentiated profile and compelling efficacy may represent a new standard of care in narcolepsy type 1. We look forward to working closely with the FDA as we plan to advance alixorexton into phase 3 development later this quarter.