Amryt Pharma

Hope for those with the greatest need
A biopharmaceutical company focused on rare diseases, EB2020 sponsors Amryt Pharma believe they can make a real difference to people living with Epidermolysis Bullosa. CEO Joe Wiley and CMO Mark Sumeray tell us more.

After over 15 years of working in the pharmaceutical industry following his medical training, Amryt CEO Dr Joe Wiley noticed that although great progress had been made in some areas of medicine there was one field that seemed relatively neglected: rare diseases.

Joe notes that, “from my medical training and many years in the world of pharma, I know all too well that there is still much to do if we are to be able to offer transformative treatment options for many people living with rare conditions.”

Joe co-founded Amryt in 2015 and from the start the company has only had one mission, to uncover scientific potential and find new medicines that change the lives of people with rare, debilitating conditions. Fast-forward to 2020, and Amryt is now a global company with approximately 150 employees who work across the US, EU, Middle East and Latin America.

“I am very proud of the team that we’ve built here at Amryt – our senior team has over 170 years of experience in rare and orphan diseases. We have a proven ability to bring effective treatments to people with rare disease, and already have two approved rare disease medicines”, continues Joe. “We are also very excited about our research and development activities, and our Epidermolysis Bullosa research programme in particular.”

The company first began researching potential treatments for EB back in 2016 with an ambition to transform the outlook for people living with the condition. Chief Medical Officer Dr Mark Sumeray came on board later that year and has relished the challenge of bringing the first approved medicine for EB to the people who need it most.

“EB is a really painful and debilitating condition. I was immediately impressed by the commitment at Amryt to change the reality of living with EB and the quality of the research being done,” says Mark. “We are running the largest ever global trial in EB, the EASE trial, at 55 sites in 27 countries. We are aiming to develop a range of treatments that can not only help manage EB but also address the underlying cause in the hope of a potential cure.”

“We feel that there is a real momentum behind EB research and a commitment across industry and healthcare professionals to change the status quo,” continues Mark. “This is why we are so excited to be sponsoring the EB2020 conference. Collaboration is central to the Amryt way of doing things, and EB2020 is a fantastic opportunity for us in the research community to share our ideas, meet new partners and galvanise each other in our shared mission to make a real difference for patients.”

As platinum sponsors, Amryt will have a presence in the exhibition hall and also host a lunchtime medical education satellite symposium to discuss the science behind their research efforts to support EB patients. For more information on Amryt visit their website at www.amrytpharma.com