Mark Stejbach has been appointed chief commercial officer at Alkermes. In this newly created role, Mr. Stejbach will be responsible for commercial activities, including marketing and sales of Vivitrol (naltrexone for extended-release injectable suspension) and developing commercial strategies for Alkermes’ late-stage pipeline, namely ALKS 9070 (for schizophrenia), ALKS 37 (for opioid-induced constipation) and ALKS 5461 (for treatment-resistant depression). Mr. Stejbach will also serve on the executive management team.
 
“We are very pleased to welcome Mark to Alkermes, as we continue to build our commercial capabilities in preparation for the expansion of our commercial product portfolio,” said Richard Pops, chief executive officer of Alkermes. “We look forward to having Mark accelerate and expand our commercial activities for Vivitrol as well as provide forward-looking insight into our late-stage pipeline development activities. Our goal is to build Alkermes plc into one of the next great biotechnology companies, and a strong commercial capability is a key strategic asset.”
 
Mr. Stejbach has 25 years of experience in biotech and pharmaceutical marketing, sales, managed care and finance. Most recently he served as chief commercial officer at Tengion, Inc. He previously served as vice president of Managed Care Marketing at Merck, where he was responsible for marketing planning across all public and private payor segments, including contracting strategy, program development and economic affairs. Mr. Stejbach held several other senior positions at Merck, where he led marketing campaigns for products including Vasotec and Proscar, and at Biogen Idec, where he was responsible for the development and execution of the launch marketing plan for Avonex.