Leerink analyst Paul Matteis says he left meetings with Alkermes management more confident in the company's base business. Vivitrol's long-term growth profile may be underappreciated by investors, Matteis tells investors in a research note after meeting with Alkermes CEO Richard Pops, CFO Jim Frates and President Shane Cooke. The analyst sees no fundamental reason why the opiate addiction drug should plateau soon. He points out the Street is modeling for growth to taper after 2016. Further, with the stock around $41, investors are giving Alkermes little credit for its potential depression treatment ALKS5461, Matteis argues. While the analyst remains "very cautious" in the drug's approvability, he sees '5461 as providing mostly all upside should it succeed since most investor focus has shifted to the base business and ALKS3831 in schizophrenia. If the FORWARD5 study is successful, Alkermes will approach the FDA and may file a new drug application, and should the trial show a strong trend but just miss, the company is open to performing another small study, Matteis writes. He reiterates an Outperform rating on Alkermes with a $58 price target. The drugmaker closed yesterday up $1.49 to $41.94.