John F. Crowley, President and CEO at Biotechnology Innovation Organization, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“A Legacy For Rare Diseases…it was announced that BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. would acquire Amicus Therapeutics for $4.8 Billion. Amicus was the company that I was privileged to lead as CEO and then Executive Chairman from 2005-2024. Amicus is the quintessential biotech success story. Great science, great people, entrepreneurship, persistence, massive setbacks, passion, risk, tremendous new medicines for patients, and value creation. An overnight success that “only” took 20+ years. With countless trials and tribulations along the way.
It began in 2002 when Gregory Weinhoff and his venture capital partners discovered a university technology from Mount Sinai Medical Center that offered great promise in a number of rare diseases. They licensed the technology, provided early stage funding, transferred the technology to an incubator company that they formed, recruited management and a handful of scientists. And then more venture investors joined and invested in 2004, led by my friend and biotech visionary Mike Raab and his then partners at New Enterprise Associates (NEA). I joined the Amicus Board and then as CEO in 2005 when Amicus was about a handful of employees.
Amicus has been filled with passionate entrepreneurs who always did what was best for people living with the diseases that we researched.
Over the years:
- We had more clinical trials fail than succeed
- We raised more than $2 Billion in capital to fund our company
- We managed our way through the global financial crisis (we hit a low of about $1/share) and of course…COVID
- We had two large pharma partners ‘quit’ our Fabry disease program, thinking it was too hard ever to be approved (that approved drug now helps thousands of Fabry patients in 40+ nations)
- Three times we had to do a “reduction in force” (in 2009 more than 50% of employees) to save our cash to live and fight another day- and another disease
- The two marvelous medicines that we created and that were approved globally for Pompe and Fabry disease, each took more than a decade of research and development and over One Billion dollars each to fund
- More than 1,000 individuals have through the years been a part of Team Amicus. A number of them went on to be biotech CEOs and senior executives, including Matthew Patterson, Greg Licholai, Chris Duke and many others.
A US born company, with a global footprint to help those in need. Amicus. The word in Latin means’friend.’ We always wanted to be the most patient focused and patient friendly company in our industry. We constantly challenged our team to make every decision as if they, or their children, had whatever disease we were seeking to treat/cure.
Bradley Campbell, Amicus CEO since 2022 and my long time business partner and great friend- well done!
And Alexander Hardy, you and your team at BioMarin live the same mission we do every day. Amicus and our patients’ well being (including my own children) will be in good hands with you.”
Proceed to the video attached to the post.
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