Amryt Pharma, based in Ireland, has signed an agreement with Pharaon Healthcare-Droguerie Mercury to distribute Lojuxta (lomitapide) in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
Amryt specializes in finding drugs to treat rare diseases, while Pharaon is one of the middle east’s key full-service distributors of pharmaceuticals.

Lojuxta is used to treat a rare illness called Homozygous Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (“HoFH”). This illness is inherited and begins affecting its victims even before birth. HoFH reduces the body’s ability to remove bad cholesterol from the blood, leading to aggressive and early narrowing and blocking of blood vessels, resulting in early death.

“This is Amryt’s fifth new distribution agreement for Lojuxta in approximately three months, and we are delighted to be partnering with Pharaon Healthcare in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria,” said CEO of Amryt, Dr. Joe Wiley.

“Pharaon Healthcare has an excellent footprint and many decades of experience in these markets, and this new agreement should help to ensure we can respond effectively to physicians’ requests regarding their patients suffering with HoFH.”

It is believed by Amryt that there are about 40 people in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria suffering from HoFH, with Lebanon having the most due to what is called the “founder effect.” The founder effect is an idea in population genetics which explains a loss of genetic variety as a result of a new population established by a very small group of individuals that broke off from a larger population.