Westchester's Most Innovative Businesses: Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. in Ardsley

Escalating the Fight Against Multiple Sclerosis

In 2004, Acorda Therapeutics, Inc., then a pharmaceutical research and development company, found out that its flagship drug, Ampyra, had failed to achieve approval for use treating spinal cord injuries. Acorda’s demise seemed imminent, and the company, which had opened its laboratories in 1998 with six full-time employees, had to do something—quick.

It did. It purchased Zanaflex, “a drug that was ready to go to market, and we built a sales force around it,” Director of Corporate Communications Jeff MacDonald says. Buoyed by the acquisition of the drug, which was approved to treat symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS), Acorda changed in just 18 months from a small, privately owned, drug-development company to a publicly owned commercial company that both develops and sells drugs.

- Advertisement -

MacDonald says this major business shift helped keep the company afloat until Ampyra could be re-launched with a new emphasis—as another MS treatment. In 2010, Ampyra was approved for that purpose, and, by 2011, the company that had no revenue stream prior to acquiring Zanaflex reported $292 million in revenue. Thanks in large part to their gamble, in July, Acorda moved its 340 full-time employees from Hawthorne to a new, larger corporate space in Ardsley.

Unveiled: A Boutique Bridal Brunch is February 23!

Our Best of Westchester Readers' Ballot is open through January 15!

Our Women in Business Awards event is November 21!

Our Best of Business event is October 30!

Our CEOs & Business Leaders Golf Outing is August 5!

Our Best of Westchester Party is July 24!

Our Westchester Home Design Awards event is June 26!

Our Wine & Food Festival returns June 4-9!

Our Wunderkinds event takes place on May 23!

Our Best of Business Ballot is open through May 15!

Our Healthcare Heroes Awards event takes place on May 9!

Our Westchester Home Builders Awards take place on April 4!

Our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Forum is March 14!

Holiday flash sale ... subscribe and save 50%

Limited time offer. New subscribers only.