Alkermes executives take a hit on pay package

Irish-domiciled biopharma group reported 31% rise in sales last year

Richard Pops, Alkermes chief executive, received a lower salary last year. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill / The Irish Times
Richard Pops, Alkermes chief executive, received a lower salary last year. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill / The Irish Times

Executives at Irish-headquartered biopharma group Alkermes received lower overall remuneration last year.

The group, which is domiciled in Ireland following its acquisition of Elan Drug Technologies back in 2011, reported 31 per cent growth in revenues last year and sharply narrowed its net loss.

Details published in the company's annual report confirm that basic executive pay at the group led by chairman and chief executive Richard Pops rose about 3.4 per cent. That brought Mr Pops's basic salary up to $911,228 (€857,425).

He also received stock award and options valued at just over $7 million dollars and performance-related pay of $1.64 million. Both these figures were lower than in the previous two years. The stock awards will have been hit by Alkermes share price, which fell sharply at the outset of 2016 on a failed clinical trial and traded generally lower throughout the year than in 2015.

Overall, Mr Pops’s remuneration for 2016 was $9.65 million compared with $12.5 million.

Chief financial officer James Frates was paid a total of $2.68 million compared with $3.15 million a year previously while Irish-based company president Shane Cooke, who joined Alkermes from Elan, received a total of $4.14 million, down from $5.1 million in 2015.

Alkermes is focused on diseases of the central nervous system.

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Dominic Coyle

Dominic Coyle

Dominic Coyle is Deputy Business Editor of The Irish Times