Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. (ACOR)

Acorda Therapeutics was a biopharmaceutical company focused on therapies that restore function for people with neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injury. Founded in 1995, the company spent its early years working on spinal cord injury research before building a commercial business around neurology products. It was based in Westchester and Rockland counties north of New York City, most recently in Pearl River, New York.

The company completed its initial public offering on Nasdaq in February 2006. Its defining product was Ampyra (dalfampridine), an extended-release tablet approved by the FDA in 2010 to improve walking in adults with multiple sclerosis. Ampyra became a large revenue source for years and lifted Acorda into the ranks of mid-sized biotech companies, but the drug's patent protection was challenged in court and generic versions eventually reached the market, which cut sales sharply.

To replace Ampyra revenue, Acorda acquired Civitas Therapeutics and developed Inbrija, an inhaled form of levodopa for intermittent OFF episodes in Parkinson's disease, which received FDA approval in late 2018. Sales of Inbrija grew more slowly than planned, while the company carried significant convertible debt. Acorda cut staff several times, restructured its debt and reduced its research spending in an effort to stay solvent.

In April 2024 Acorda filed for Chapter 11 protection and agreed to sell substantially all of its assets, including Inbrija and Ampyra, to Merz Therapeutics in a court-supervised sale valued at $185 million. Nasdaq delisted the stock, and trading was suspended from April 12, 2024. The sale to Merz closed in July 2024, and the company's remaining assets were later placed in a liquidating trust, leaving little or nothing for common shareholders.