Armistice Capital and Wellington Management continue to hold positions in Supernus Pharmaceuticals as the company’s non-stimulant attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medicine Qelbree extends its footprint with prescribers. Filings show Supernus among Armistice’s larger single-name positions this year, while Wellington reports a smaller, diversified holding. Against that backdrop, Supernus is posting steady prescription growth for Qelbree and leaning into a market shaped by stimulant shortages, policy extensions for telemedicine, and gradual interest in non-stimulant options.
Where Investors Stand
Armistice Capital: In the fund’s most recent quarter-end snapshot (March 31, 2025), Supernus appears among Armistice’s notable positions at about 2.55% of reported long equity exposure, according to WhaleWisdom’s compilation of the firm’s Schedule 13F. That places Supernus alongside other core healthcare holdings on Armistice’s list.
Wellington Management: MarketBeat’s institutional ownership feed shows Wellington Management Group LLP reporting 22,224 shares of Supernus as of a May 14, 2025 update derived from the firm’s 13F. That’s a modest holding in the context of Wellington’s broad portfolio, but it confirms continuing exposure.
Qelbree’s commercial progress
Qelbree (viloxazine extended-release) is approved for adults and for children 6+ and is not a controlled substance, which means it is not scheduled like many stimulant ADHD medicines. Supernus has reported two consecutive quarters of rising Qelbree sales and broader prescriber adoption:
- Second quarter 2025: Net sales of $77.6 million for Qelbree, 31% year-over-year growth; 225,254 total prescriptions for the quarter; and ~36,000 active prescribers, up 23% from a year earlier.
- First quarter 2025: Qelbree net sales rose 44% year over year to $64.7 million, with 214,908 prescriptions and roughly 34,400 prescribers during the quarter.
Supernus’ Recent Moves and Near-Term Watch Items
- Legal overhang and generic challenges: Supernus disclosed Paragraph IV notice letters in May 2025 regarding proposed generic versions of viloxazine extended-release (Qelbree). The Orange Book lists six Qelbree patents with expirations ranging from 2029 to 2035; Supernus says it intends to enforce its intellectual property
- Execution markers: Management now discloses prescriptions, active prescribers, and net sales for Qelbree each quarter. Sustained growth in these three metrics will be the clearest signal of durable adoption.
- Broader portfolio and M&A: Supernus completed its acquisition of Sage Therapeutics on July 31, 2025, adding neuropsychiatry assets that may influence commercial focus and spending.
- Policy and supply signals: Any change in DEA production quotas, the telemedicine rulemaking process, or FDA shortage listings for stimulants can shift traffic between stimulant and non-stimulant options.
Why Is Demand for Non-Stimulant ADHD Medicine Increasing?
Stimulant supply has been unreliable. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first listed a shortage of immediate-release Adderall (amphetamine mixed salts) in October 2022, and disruptions have periodically rippled across other branded and generic stimulants since then. The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists still shows generic amphetamine mixed salts in shortage as manufacturers adjust.
To ease pressure, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) raised the production quota for lisdexamfetamine (Vyvanse) and its generics by about 24% in September 2024.
Meanwhile, Telemedicine access is being formalized. Temporary COVID-era rules that allowed clinicians to prescribe controlled substances via telemedicine were extended through December 31, 2025, and the DEA has advanced a special registration framework to preserve remote prescribing under defined conditions.
Non-stimulants remain a small slice of the total ADHD treatment market, but the door is opening. A DEA-commissioned IQVIA report on stimulant trends found that about 90% of prescriptions used to treat ADHD in 2023 were stimulants. But among new or switch prescriptions, the share using non-stimulants rose from 10% in 2012 to 19% in 2023, indicating gradual interest in alternatives.
And stimulant patients have felt the pinch. A CDC analysis of U.S. adults with ADHD found that 71.5% of those taking a stimulant struggled to fill a prescription in the prior year because the medication was unavailable; roughly one-third of adults with ADHD used a stimulant, and about half reported using telehealth at some point for ADHD-related services.
Put together, this environment offers Qelbree a clear niche: a non-stimulant option that isn’t subject to Schedule II restrictions and has shown steady uptake as supply shortages and policy noise reshape approaches to ADHD treatment.
Why Armistice Capital and Wellington Matter Here
Armistice’s sizing in Supernus, while far from a control stake, signals specialist conviction in a branded product story that is building share in a defined sub-segment (non-stimulants) and benefiting from wider prescriber awareness.
Wellington’s smaller position underscores mainstream institutional coverage of the name across diversified portfolios.
Both stakes are snapshots that can change with market conditions, but they align with the data trend: more prescribers are trying Qelbree, and reported prescriptions keep rising.
