CryerHealth to Co-Sponsor Rare Disease Leadership Summit Orphan Drug Development Accelerating Through Alliances with Patients

Online, July 12, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Washington, DC - CryerHealth, LLC, a boutique healthcare consulting firm committed to creating patient-centric solutions to health and healthcare delivery challenges, announced its sponsorship of the 5th Annual Rare Disease Leadership Summit starting today in Arlington, Virginia. The summit entitled, "Forge Valuable Patient Advocacy and Access Alliances throughout Orphan Drug Development and Commercialization", will bring together leading experts and innovators in the healthcare industry to discuss how to create viable products for patients with rare disorders.

According to the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD), an organization dedicated to identifying, treating, and curing approximately 7,000 rare disorders, an estimated 30 million Americans suffer from rare or "orphan" diseases. For the vast majority of these conditions there are no FDA-approved therapies. Orphan status is awarded to drugs created specifically to treat diseases with fewer than 200,000 people afflicted.

"There is a tremendous gap in care for the millions of Americans struggling with rare diseases," said Donna Cryer, CryerHealth chief executive officer. "We look forward to leveraging the CryerHealth team's expertise in genetics, personalized medicine, and alliance development to increase the number of therapies deemed blockbuster in their impact on patient lives if not the number served."

No longer the preserve of emerging biotech firms, major pharmaceuticals also see the potential in finding cures for rare genetic based diseases. In February GlaxoSmithKline formed a standalone unit that specializes in the development and commercialization of medicines for rare diseases that seeks to leverage existing capabilities and partnerships and establish further in-licensing opportunities. Pfizer will also launch a rare disease research and development group this December, after it announced that it will allocate up to $110 million to license global rights for a treatment being developed for the genetic disorder Gaucher disease.

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CryerHealth, LLC is the only patient and physician led health consultancy. We are committed to fostering engagement between corporations, patients and physicians to collaboratively transform healthcare. www.cryerhealth.com