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Italy’s Chiesi is acquiring Amryt Pharma for its breakthrough therapy targeting epidermolysis bullosa, also known as ‘butterfly skin’.
Amryt, an Irish-based pharmaceutical company that focuses on drugs targeting rare diseases, is being acquired by Italian pharma giant Chiesi Farmaceutici for up to nearly $1.5bn.
Established in 2015, Amryt focuses on rare and so-called ‘orphan’ diseases. It has developed a breakthrough drug for a rare and painful skin disease called epidermolysis bullosa (EB) that mostly affects children.
In milder cases of EB, only the skin is affected, but more severe forms can affect the mouth, internal linings of the body and even the teeth. The skin’s natural proteins break down and slight touch can cause extreme pain, sores and blistering.
The transaction’s value is contingent on Amryt meeting certain targets set by the deal with Chiesi. It is expected to close by the end of June.
“In less than eight years, we have built from the ground up a high growth and globally respected company in the biotechnology industry and the rare disease space,” said Amryt CEO Dr Joe Wiley.
“Chiesi is aligned with Amryt’s commitment and passion, and I believe Chiesi will further maximise the value of Amryt’s current portfolio and pipeline and most importantly, will accelerate our ability to reach more patients in need globally.”
Marco Vecchia, CEO of Chiesi Group, said that the deal with Amryt will help his company on its journey to bring medicines to patients “no matter how rare their condition may be”.
“Amryt has steadily brought innovative products to new markets and, by adding them to the Chiesi portfolio, we hope to make them available to even more patients who may require them.”
Headquartered in Parma, Italy, Chiesi is more than 85 years old and operates in 30 countries with a team of more than 6,000 employees.
According to The Irish Times, Amryt’s drug called Filsuvez was approved by EU medicines regulators last year to treat EB, also known as ‘butterfly skin’ disease because of the blisters caused on patients’ skin.
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