Having led multinational pharmaceutical companies, we asked ourselves in 2012, how would our careers be defined and what contributions could we now be making. Most individuals reach a stage were having a bigger purpose in life by which to define one’s legacy becomes the main motivation. Something to be proud of sharing with your children. That reflection led to the birth of Genpharm.
Looking at the rare disease environment in the Middle East region and the significant gaps in meeting patients’ needs, we decided to take on these challenges.
Rare and genetic diseases are prevalent in the region due to the higher rate of consanguine marriages and rather large family size. Nevertheless, the small number of experts, the lack of disease awareness and genetic testing for an early diagnosis, makes the patient pathway littered with obstacles. These diseases are generally genetic and pediatric in nature and have a significant socio-economic impact on families and society. They have a major influence on the quality of life people living with a rare disease and their care givers in addition to the reduced life expectancy.
On the bright side, the advances in scientific research, the number of on-going clinical trials, the breakthroughs in cell and gene therapy mostly in monogenic diseases, have started yielding very encouraging results.
We want to be at the core of this trend in the MENAT region and facilitate access to these innovative therapies. Hence, everything we do at Genpharm is focused on supporting people living with rare diseases, their families, and care takers.