Janssen Partially Terminates Nanoparticle License Agreement With Alkermes

Alkermes plc ALKS stock is trading lower after announcing that Janssen, a unit of Johnson & Johnson JNJ, has provided notice of its partial termination of two licenses relating to Alkermes’ NanoCrystal tech.
The move affects know-how royalties related to the sales of Janssen’s paliperidone products for schizophrenia, including Invega Sustenna and Invega Trinza.
While Janssen maintains that it has not used nanoparticle technology, but Alkermes “strongly disagrees.”
Alkermes CEO Richard Pops says he’ll “explore all options” at the company’s disposal to prevent J&J from infringing on what he says is Alkermes’ contractual rights.
“For years, Janssen has highlighted the use of our NanoCrystal technology in its long-acting INVEGA products and has paid us know-how royalties consistent with this fact,” Pops said in a statement. “We are not aware of any changes that have occurred to these products that would have altered their use of our intellectual property.”
Since Alkermes had been planning for a wind-down of the Janssen royalty payments in the coming years, CFO Iain Brown says the termination won’t impact the company’s long-term outlook.
“As we look ahead to 2022, we will incorporate any necessary changes from these developments when we provide our financial expectations for the year in February,” Brown said in a statement.
Price Action: ALKS shares are down 14.70% at $25.01 during the market session on the last check Tuesday.