Irish pharma company Amryt almost doubles CEO pay to $1.6m

Amryt Pharma, the Dublin-based biopharmaceutical company, almost doubled the total remuneration of its boss last year to $1.6 million (€1.42 million) while also granting him more than six million share options.

The company's annual report shows that chief executive Joe Wiley received a boost in remuneration of 93 per cent, including a base salary of $588,000 and a bonus of $703,000 alongside other entitlements.

Mr Wiley also received more than six million share options. A small portion, worth £239,000 (€261,753), was granted in May while more than 5.7 million shares, worth more than £7 million, were granted in November.

While the shares are worth more than £9.75 million at current market prices, Mr Wiley has to hold them for at least three years.

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Rory Nealon, the company's chief financial officer and chief operating officer, saw his total remuneration package rise by 45 per cent to $875,000. That included a $515,000 bonus.

Nasdaq listing

The company,which focuses on developing treatments to help patients with rare and orphan diseases, expects its listing on New York’s Nasdaq to complete in July. Amryt started the process of seeking a US listing in February. It is currently listed in Dublin and London.

“A key consideration for the directors was the impact on going concern of the acquisition of Aegerion and a $60 million fundraise, both completed in September 2019,” the company said, adding that the US listing will drive “liquidity and investor reach”.

On Covid-19, Amryt said that it has more than 12 months of labelled or unlabelled finished products on hand, and it hasn’t experienced any significant logistical difficulties to date.

Amryt has closed its executive offices with employees working remotely, while it “limited the number of staff” in its manufacturing facility in Germany.

“Whilst the Covid-19 pandemic is still very much present at the time of writing, we are pleased to be able to report that the impact of Covid-19 to date on Amryt’s business has been minimised,” the company said.

“This is a result of deploying contingency plans already in place for a variety of scenarios and challenges which may occur.”