Северная Ирландия представила новый бренд Galsana для пациентов с редкими метаболическими заболеваниями

Northern Ireland’s first billion pound company has launched its own dedicated brand supporting patients with rare metabolic diseases in the latest chapter in its international expansion strategy. And Craigavon-based Galen, the commercial arm of the Almac Group, says the creation of Galsana “marks the next extraordinary chapter for our medical nutrition business”. Galsana is revealed to a global audience in Helsinki on Tuesday at one of the world’s leading scientific conferences focused on inherited metabolic disorders. The launch of Galsana forms part of Galen’s long-term strategy to expand its international presence, strengthen its innovation pipeline and build on a pharmaceutical heritage that began in Craigavon in 1968. The firm’s marketing and medical nutrition vice-president Simon Lawrence, who has been with Galen since 1986, says he is “excited” about the next phase of its growth and the opportunities that ahead for the business, the north’s first £1 billion company when it floated on the stock market in 1997 and its valuation passed that threshold. The genesis of the Galsana launch came in 2020 when Almac paid an undisclosed multi-million pound sum to acquire boutique healthcare company POA Pharma in Sweden, giving it a footprint into the Nordic territory and Northern Europe. Lawrence, who joined Galen in 1986 as a medical representative and progressed to executive leadership, has been closely involved in the development and growth of the company’s medical nutrition business, including that acquisition of POA. He said: “For as long as I’ve been here, we’ve looked at the market to see where we could differentiate ourselves from the competition. What can we do that makes us different? That is effectively what we’re doing with Galsana. “We couldn’t use the Galen name in some European markets and had to create an identity, so the decision was taken to to look at creating a new brand under which we could a range of our medical nutrition products internationally. Galsana is the brand as opposed to the product.” Galen currently produces powders and liquids within the health market, but its main focus with Galsana is around micro tablets. “It’s not a unique technology, but we’ve focused on where can we innovate,” adds Lawrence, who worked with the late Dr Allen McClay, who retired from Galen in September 2001 but, fearing that some jobs could be moved from Craigavon to the US, he bought out five divisions of Galen Holdings, and in 2002 he created the Almac Group. “We’ve listen very carefully to the market, to patients and dieticians. We’ve asked what are the particular problems they’re facing and then we’ve looked to produce solutions to those to those problems with our Galsana formulations.” It is thought the launch of Galsana will create opportunities for international partnerships and long-term investment in Northern Ireland’s life sciences sector. Dr Dennise Broderick, managing director and president at Galen Ltd, said: “For nearly six decades, Galen has built its reputation on a simple principle - understanding the needs of patients and healthcare professionals, and delivering solutions that make a meaningful difference to their lives. “The launch of Galsana marks the next extraordinary chapter for our medical nutrition business and its mission to support people living with rare metabolic diseases. “While we are ambitious for growth, we remain grounded in the values that have guided us from the beginning - a commitment to innovation, quality, and putting patients at the heart of everything we do.” She added: “Over recent years, we have expanded into new markets, strengthened our expertise and invested in the areas where we believe we can make the greatest impact. “Galsana brings that experience, ambition and patient focus together under a single global identity, creating a platform for future innovation that will serve the rare metabolic disease community for decades to come.” Dr Sarah Dolan, associate director of medical nutrition at Galen, said “We are proud that a company rooted in Northern Ireland can play an important role in advancing care for patients worldwide, while contributing to the continued growth and success of the region’s life sciences industry.”