Amicus Leader, BIO Board Member John Crowley Named Trade Group’s New CEO
BIO’s new president and CEO is a familiar face. John Crowley, a longtime BIO board member, was named the life sciences industry trade group’s new leader, starting in March.
BIO’s new president and CEO is a familiar face. John Crowley, a longtime BIO board member, was named the life sciences industry trade group’s new leader, starting in March.
The SPAC merger that Amicus Therapeutics planned for its gene therapy assets has been called off due to market conditions. The rare disease company is instead keeping those assets but streamlining its portfolio in order to save $400 million—the amount that the gene therapy spinout was in line to receive from the merger deal.
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Amicus Therapeutics is spinning its gene therapy pipeline into a separate entity that will go public via a SPAC merger. Executives say the transaction puts Amicus on a path to profitability while simultaneously securing the cash needed to develop the gene therapy assets.