Company type | Public |
---|---|
OTC Pink: ACORQ Nasdaq: ACOR | |
Industry | |
Founded | 1995[1] |
Founder | Ron Cohen [1] [2] |
Headquarters | 420 Saw Mill River Road, Ardsley, New York, United States |
Key people | Ron Cohen (CEO) |
Products | |
Revenue | US$192.408 million(2019) [3] |
US$−311.632 million(2019) [3] | |
US$−272.966 million(2019) [3] | |
Total assets | US$799.718 million(2019) [3] |
Total equity | US$310.820 million(2019) [3] |
Number of employees | 344 (2020) [3] |
Website | acorda |
Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. is an American biotechnology company based in Pearl River, New York. The company develops therapies that improve neurological function in people with Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and other neurological disorders. Acorda Therapeutics manufactures and markets the drugs Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder) and Ampyra (dalfampridine) in the United States.
Inbrija is administered by inhalation and is indicated for the intermittent treatment of off episodes in patients with Parkinson's disease currently taking carbidopa/levodopa. Inbrija is approved by the FDA and the EU.
In September 2014, the company acquired Civitas Therapeutics for US$525 million, gaining the Phase III Parkinson's drug, CVT-301, the migraine drug CVT-427 and rights to the ARCUS pulmonary delivery system. [9] [10] Th ARCUS technology allows for the administration of drugs by inhalation. The FDA-approved drug Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder) and the clinical-stage drug CVT-427 (zolmitriptan) currently use the ARCUS technology for drug delivery. [10]
Acorda Therapeutics was incorporated in 1995, founded by internist turned entrepreneur Ron Cohen in Hawthorne, New York. [1] [2] Cohen had previously worked at the tissue engineering firm Advanced Tissue Sciences from 1986 to 1992. [2] Cohen's focus on neurology at Acorda was influenced by his father's being a neurologist at Columbia University Medical Center. [2] The business model of the company from the start was to work on commercialization of academic discoveries. [2] A single therapeutic area focus also has the advantage that physicians prescribing one drug might also prescribe another in Acorda's portfolio; for instance, the company planned to leverage physician access through tizanidine capsule sales to promote dalfampridine sales. [2]
An initial public offering (IPO) in 2006 raised US$31.5 million, about half of what was expected going into the offering, which was attributed to general weakness of the IPO market at the time. [2] These funds were supplemented by a private sale of shares later the same year, raising and additional US$29.8 million. [2]
As of 2007, twelve years after incorporation, the company had not yet turned a profit. [2]
From 2019 to 2021 the company's earnings per share (EPS) increased by 4.5% every year. In 2021, the company's revenue was down by 13 percent. [11]
In 2024, the company declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and announced that it had secured a "stalking horse" bid for all of its assets. As a result of the bankruptcy filing, the company's stock fell approximately 40%. [12]
The Canadian Spinal Research Organization held the patent for this drug in 2002 when the organization engaged Acorda to conduct a Phase III trial for treatment of spasticity in patients with chronic spinal cord injury. [13] This was Acorda's flagship product and development of subsequent drug candidates was initially predicated on realized revenue from this drug's sales. [2] In November 2016, the company announced it was discontinuing development of the drug for post-stroke walking difficulties, after a clinical trial failure. [14] In the third quarter of 2019, the company's shares dropped by a significant 65.1% as a result of dalfampridine's multiple sclerosis indication facing competition in the United States. [15] [16]
In December 2018, the company announced the FDA approval of Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder) for patients with Parkinson's disease. [17] [18] In January 2021, Acorda sold its manufacturing operations for Inbrija to Catalent for $70 million to reduce the company's operating expenses. [19]
The company licensed tizanidine (Zanaflex) from Élan in the early 2000s to help meeting cash flow goals. [2] Acorda sells both capsule and tablet forms of this drug, with emphasis on the capsule form as this has patent protection through 2021, while the tablet form has many generic competitors. [2]
In January 2016, the company acquired Finnish pharmaceutical company, Biotie Therapies, for US$363 million. This gave the company control over Biote's primary sclerosing cholangitis drug, BTT1023 and the oral adenosine A2A receptor antagonist tozadenant. [20] In November 2017, the company announced discontinuation of research and development of the Phase III Parkinson's disease drug tozadenant. This followed the death of 5 patients enrolled in the tozadenant Phase III trial from agranulocytosis and associated severe adverse events possibly related to tozadenant. [21] [22]
As of February 14,2019 [update] , the members of the board of directors of Acorda Therapeutics were: Ron Cohen, Barry Greene, Peder K. Jensen, John P. Kelley, Sandra Panem, Lorin J. Randall, Steven M. Rauscher, and Catherine D. Strader. [23]
As of February 14,2019 [update] , the members of the senior management team were: Ron Cohen M.D. (Founder, president and chief executive officer), [13] [24] Burkhard Blank (chief medical officer), Andrew R. Blight (chief scientific officer emeritus), Denise Duca (executive vice president, human resources), Andrew A. Hidman (chief business officer), David Lawrence (chief, business operations and principal accounting officer), Lauren Sabella (chief commercial officer), Tierney Saccavino (executive vice president, corporate communications) and Jane Wasman (president, international and general counsel). [25]
As of 2019 [update] , founder, president and CEO Cohen would be about 63 years old. [2] Andrew Blight was the CSO in 2007 and would, as of 2019, [update] be about 68 years old, an emeritus in this role. [2] As of 2007, David Lawrence was the chief financial officer and Mary Fisher the chief operating officer. [2] Jane Wasman, about 62 in 2019, has held the general counsel role at the company since at least 2007. [2]
In 2024, Acorda Therapeutics went bankrupt with its stock being delisted from the NASDAQ. In its bankruptcy proceedings, a stalking horse offer from Merz Pharma subsidiary Merz Therapeutics was arranged. [26]
Biogen Inc. is an American multinational biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States specializing in the discovery, development, and delivery of therapies for the treatment of neurological diseases to patients worldwide. Biogen operates in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland.
l-DOPA, also known as levodopa and l-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, is made and used as part of the normal biology of some plants and animals, including humans. Humans, as well as a portion of the other animals that utilize l-DOPA, make it via biosynthesis from the amino acid l-tyrosine. l-DOPA is the precursor to the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine (noradrenaline), and epinephrine (adrenaline), which are collectively known as catecholamines. Furthermore, l-DOPA itself mediates neurotrophic factor release by the brain and CNS. In some plant families, l-DOPA is the central precursor of a biosynthetic pathway that produces a class of pigments called betalains. l-DOPA can be manufactured and in its pure form is sold as a psychoactive drug with the INN levodopa; trade names include Sinemet, Pharmacopa, Atamet, and Stalevo. As a drug, it is used in the clinical treatment of Parkinson's disease and dopamine-responsive dystonia.
Amantadine, sold under the brand name Gocovri among others, is a medication used to treat dyskinesia associated with parkinsonism and influenza caused by type A influenzavirus, though its use for the latter is no longer recommended because of widespread drug resistance. It acts as a nicotinic antagonist, dopamine agonist, and noncompetitive NMDA antagonist. The antiviral mechanism of action is antagonism of the influenzavirus A M2 proton channel, which prevents endosomal escape.
Antisense therapy is a form of treatment that uses antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) to target messenger RNA (mRNA). ASOs are capable of altering mRNA expression through a variety of mechanisms, including ribonuclease H mediated decay of the pre-mRNA, direct steric blockage, and exon content modulation through splicing site binding on pre-mRNA. Several ASOs have been approved in the United States, the European Union, and elsewhere.
4-Aminopyridine (4-AP, fampridine, dalfampridine) is an organic compound with the chemical formula C5H4N–NH2. The molecule is one of the three isomeric amines of pyridine. It is used as a research tool in characterizing subtypes of the potassium channel. It has also been used as a drug, to manage some of the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, and is indicated for symptomatic improvement of walking in adults with several variations of the disease. It was undergoing Phase III clinical trials as of 2008, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the compound on January 22, 2010. Fampridine is also marketed as Ampyra (pronounced "am-PEER-ah," according to the maker's website) in the United States by Acorda Therapeutics and as Fampyra in the European Union, Canada, and Australia. In Canada, the medication has been approved for use by Health Canada since February 10, 2012.
Entacapone, sold under the brand name Comtan among others, is a medication commonly used in combination with other medications for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Entacapone together with levodopa and carbidopa allows levodopa to have a longer effect in the brain and reduces Parkinson's disease signs and symptoms for a greater length of time than levodopa and carbidopa therapy alone.
Inhalable insulin is a powdered form of insulin, delivered with an inhaler into the lungs where it is absorbed. In general inhaled insulins have been more rapidly absorbed than subcutaneous injected insulin, with faster peak concentration in serum and more rapid metabolism.
Cephalon, Inc. was an American biopharmaceutical company co-founded in 1987 by pharmacologist Frank Baldino, Jr., neuroscientist Michael Lewis, and organic chemist James C. Kauer—all three former scientists with the DuPont Company. Baldino served as Cephalon's chairman and chief executive officer, until his death in December 2010. The company's name comes from the adjective "cephalic" meaning "related to the head or brain", as it was established primarily to pursue treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.
Ocrelizumab, sold under the brand name Ocrevus, is a medication used for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). It is a humanized anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody. It targets CD20 marker on B lymphocytes and is an immunosuppressive drug. Ocrelizumab binds to an epitope that overlaps with the epitope to which rituximab binds.
Biotie Therapies was a Finnish biotechnology and pharmaceutics company that was acquired by Acorda Therapeutics in January 2016. The company's research and development was focused on drugs for neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders like Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive disorders, alcohol and drug dependence and post traumatic stress disorder, and inflammatory and fibrotic liver disease. The company's headquarters is in Turku, Western Finland, and it is listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.
Istradefylline, sold under the brand name Nourianz, is a medication used as an add-on treatment to levodopa/carbidopa in adults with Parkinson's disease (PD) experiencing "off" episodes. Istradefylline reduces "off" periods resulting from long-term treatment with the antiparkinson drug levodopa. An "off" episode is a time when a patient's medications are not working well, causing an increase in PD symptoms, such as tremor and difficulty walking.
Droxidopa is a synthetic amino acid precursor which acts as a prodrug to the neurotransmitter norepinephrine (noradrenaline). Unlike norepinephrine, droxidopa is capable of crossing the protective blood–brain barrier (BBB).
Remacemide is a drug which acts as a low-affinity NMDA antagonist with sodium channel blocking properties. It has been studied for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke, epilepsy, Huntington's disease, and Parkinson's disease.
Carbidopa/levodopa/entacapone, sold under the brand name Stalevo among others, is a dopaminergic fixed-dose combination medication that contains carbidopa, levodopa, and entacapone for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.
Safinamide is a drug used as an add-on treatment for Parkinson's disease with "off" episodes; it has multiple modes of action, including the inhibition of monoamine oxidase B.
Teriflunomide, sold under the brand name Aubagio, is the active metabolite of leflunomide. Teriflunomide was investigated in the Phase III clinical trial TEMSO as a medication for multiple sclerosis (MS). The study was completed in July 2010. 2-year results were positive. However, the subsequent TENERE head-to-head comparison trial reported that "although permanent discontinuations [of therapy] were substantially less common among MS patients who received teriflunomide compared with interferon beta-1a, relapses were more common with teriflunomide." The drug was approved for use in the United States in September 2012 and for use in the European Union in August 2013.
Pimavanserin, sold under the brand name Nuplazid, is an atypical antipsychotic which is approved for the treatment of Parkinson's disease psychosis and is also being studied for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease psychosis, schizophrenia, agitation, and major depressive disorder. Unlike other antipsychotics, pimavanserin is not a dopamine receptor antagonist.
Befiradol is an experimental drug being studied for the treatment of levodopa-induced dyskinesia. It is a potent and selective 5-HT1A receptor full agonist.
Teprotumumab, sold under the brand name Tepezza, is a medication used to treat adults with thyroid eye disease, a rare condition where the muscles and fatty tissues behind the eye become inflamed, causing the eyes to bulge outwards.
Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonists are a class of drugs that act as antagonists of the calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor (CGRPR).