Ireland-based biopharmaceutical company Alkermes PLC is refinancing its existing term loan maturing in 2021 with a new $284 million senior secured term loan maturing in 2023. The company has also recently announced its 2018 earnings guidance, including its expectation for a meaningful increase in 2018 selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) costs, driven by higher investments in marketing and in the sales force in anticipation of the ALKS 5461 launch. While we expect elevated SG&A costs to result in Alkermes' 2018 leverage above 5x, in contrast to the previously projected 2018 leverage within the 4x-5x range, we still think the company's leverage will improve below 5x in 2019 and will be sustained at that level going forward. We are affirming our
