Amryt aiming to reposition skincare product Imlan

IRISH pharmaceuticals company Amryt is looking to reposition its skincare product Imlan, as plans progress to enrol its lead product Episalvan in a socalled “pivotal” study designed to obtain regulatory approval to treat the severe skin disease epidermolysis bullosa (EB).

Imlan was the sole source of Amryt’s revenue in its first results as a plc. Chief executive Joseph Wiley told the Sunday Independent that the product, acquired as part of Amryt’s takeover of German company Birken, had been developed by Birken as a so-called “cosmeceutical” product — a cosmetic product with purported medical benefits.

“We didn’t acquire the business to be in the cosmeceutical space, we wanted to be developing medical products. And the reality is Imlan has got a lot of data behind it, it has been studied in multiple studies. These are all completed.

“So what we’re doing now is we’re going through that data and we’re assessing what medical claims we could make on the strength of that data, which would allow us to get a CE mark,” Wiley said.

He added that Imlan’s commercial performance so far this year was similar to last year, when it generated just under €1m in revenue.

Amryt aims to develop Episalvan as a treatment for EB, a genetic skin disease that causes painful blisters to form as a result of the slightest friction. The “pivotal study” is set to commence in the first quarter of next year.

Amryt was set up to acquire, develop and commercialise treatments for rare diseases. It has thus far completed two acquisitions.

“We will assess and are assessing other deals on a continuous basis,” Wiley said, without commenting on how close the company is to a deal, or how it would be funded.

Amryt established a presence on the Irish and London stock exchanges after completing a reverse takeover of Fastnet Equity - previously Fastnet Oil & Gas earlier this year.

In a half-year report published on Tuesday, Amryt said it had secured a patent — lasting to 2030 — for Episalvan’s use in treating EB in the United States.

The company estimates the global EB market is worth $1.5bn a year.