The Company	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019
Organization Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements [Abstract]
The Company	1. THE COMPANY Alkermes plc (the “Company”) is a fully integrated, global biopharmaceutical company that applies its scientific expertise and proprietary technologies to research, develop and commercialize, both with partners and on its own, pharmaceutical products that are designed to address unmet medical needs of patients in major therapeutic areas. The Company has a diversified portfolio of commercial drug products and a clinical pipeline of product candidates focused on central nervous system (“CNS”) disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, addiction and multiple sclerosis (“MS”), and oncology. Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, the Company has a research and development (“R&D”) center in Waltham, Massachusetts; R&D and manufacturing facility in Athlone, Ireland; and a manufacturing facility in Wilmington, Ohio.

The entire disclosure for the nature of an entity's business, major products or services, principal markets including location, and the relative importance of its operations in each business and the basis for the determination, including but not limited to, assets, revenues, or earnings. For an entity that has not commenced principal operations, disclosures about the risks and uncertainties related to the activities in which the entity is currently engaged and an understanding of what those activities are being directed toward.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 275
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=99393423&loc=d3e5967-108592

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 275
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2134479

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