Amicus Therapeutics Inc and Almac Pharma Services Mark 15-year Strategic Partnership with Patient Advocacy Event
April 22, 2024
Almac Pharma Services, a member of the privately owned Almac Group providing innovative pharmaceutical development, manufacture and commercial services to global pharmaceutical and biotech organisations, has celebrated a key milestone of its strategic partnership with global biotechnology company, Amicus Therapeutics Inc, by hosting a patient advocacy event for its employees.
Almac Pharma Services commenced their relationship with Amicus in 2009 by providing product development and clinical manufacture services and continued its successful partnership as the drug moved into commercialisation after gaining FDA and EMA approval. Almac’s expert teams has now provided fully integrated, end-to-end commercial manufacture, packaging and distribution solutions to Amicus for over 15 years from its Craigavon headquarter facility ensuring reliable and efficient global distribution to meet ongoing patient demand.
To mark the occasion, on 17th April, Almac Pharma Services welcomed Amicus Therapeutics’ Chief Patient Advocate, Jayne Gershkowitz along with several patient advocates, who shared their experiences of living with a rare disease with Almac’s employees. The two-hour information session offered a unique opportunity for team members from across multiple departments including packaging, distribution, project, quality and engineering to hear, first-hand, from patients about their journey from rare disease diagnosis to treatment and the impact this has had on their lives.
Andrew Harrison, Packaging Team Leader, an Almac Pharma Services employee for over 30 years, attended the event and commented: “This patient advocacy event has given us all the opportunity to learn more about the impact a disease has on, not only the patients, but their families too. Hearing from individuals about their lived experience in this way enables us to gain a deep understanding and appreciate the positive contribution we are making every single day to healthcare.”
Grainne Hughes, VP Business Support Operations, Almac Pharma Services, stated: “We are extremely proud of the strong, global reputation that Almac has built over the last 55 years as a trusted and stable CDMO partner.
“Partnering with the Amicus team to support the ongoing supply of their drug has been hugely rewarding for our team. Knowing that our support is contributing to patient health in this way is clear motivation to ensure we continue to provide best-in-class, tailored services to our clients. We thoroughly enjoy working with Amicus and look forward to our continued partnership.”
Jayne Gershkowitz, Chief Patient Advocate, Amicus, commented: “Celebrating our 15-year partnership with Almac is an important milestone, and a testament to the significance of shared vision in supporting the rare disease community. We are honoured to be part of this event and bring the perspective of patients to Almac to inspire the team to continue its important work of making medicines that improve the lives of people with rare diseases.”
Just last month, as part of the Group’s ongoing global expansion investment totalling £400m, the company announced the completion of a 32,000 square feet custom-built high-volume facility that significantly increases its existing commercial manufacturing and packaging capacity.