About us - Every patient matters

Our story at Essential Pharma
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OUR STORY

Essential Pharma is a global pharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and delivering high-quality medicines that make a real difference for patients in small, underserved, or rare disease populations.

At Essential Pharma, we believe that every patient matters. No patient should be overlooked because of the population size or complexity of their condition. We take a unique approach to solving challenges related to products that are difficult to manufacture, or are at risk of discontinuation, as well as developing new products to address unmet need.

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OUR PURPOSE & MISSION

Making a difference for patients in niche populations.

At Essential Pharma, we work smarter to ensure patients have access to the medicines they need. Our mission at Essential Pharma is to develop and deliver medicines for small, underserved or rare disease populations.

We are driven by a common purpose and a strong sense of responsibility to improve the lives of patients with few or no treatment options.

No matter where they are in the world, how few in number they are, or how complex their needs are – every patient matters.

Essential Pharma purpose and mission

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Lee Morley

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

Dr Robert Watson

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Guy Semmens

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Jonathan Arnold

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Jeff Pootoolal

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Nicola Heffron

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

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LEADERSHIP TEAM

Our leadership team brings together deep experience across pharmaceutical development, commercial strategy, and global operations. We are driven by a common purpose – and a strong sense of responsibility – to patients who have few or no treatment options.

Simon Ball

INTERIM CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Simon Ramsden

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Lewis Pearson

President, Established Brands

Rob Smith

CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER

Andrew Webb

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CORPORATE AFFAIRS

Gursharan Randhawa

VICE PRESIDENT, MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Helen Stephenson-Ellis

VP Human Resources

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OUR REACH

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Emma Johnson Essential Pharma Group

Emma Johnson

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Emma became CEO of Essential Pharma in May 2023, bringing with her more than 15 years of extensive senior level pharmaceutical industry experience in global financial and commercial roles across healthcare and specialty pharmaceutical companies, overseeing strategy, operations and business development. Before joining Essential Pharma, she was a founder and CFO of EUSA Pharma, a global specialty pharma company with a focus on Oncology and Rare Disease. Emma was responsible for growing the business through acquisitions and organic growth, resulting in the successful sale to Recordati, for EUR 750m. Prior to EUSA, Emma was Head of Partner Markets at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, where she drove the international markets strategy and secured long term growth through geographic expansion. Emma completed the ACCA qualification as a chartered accountant in 2004, becoming a fellow in 2009.

Andrew Webb Essential Pharma Group

Andrew Webb

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CORPORATE AFFAIRS

Andy joined Essential Pharma as General Counsel in January 2022. He has worked across Europe and in the US during a legal career spanning more than 15 years. Before joining Essential Pharma, Andy was UK&I General Counsel and in charge of Legal Transactions for EMENA at Accord Healthcare (the largest supplier of generic medicines to the UK’s NHS) for more than 3 years. Prior to that, Andy worked in the corporate department at the law firm Linklaters for over 11 years, where he was involved in multiple transactions in the pharma sector, including during 2 years working in New York and more than 9 months on secondment with Novartis in Switzerland.

Andy graduated with a BA in Law from the University of Oxford and is a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Andy is also a trustee of the London Playing Fields Foundation.

Lee MorleyEssential Pharma

Lee Morley

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

Lee joined the Essential Pharma board in 2023, bringing more than 30 years of experience as a leader and executive in the biopharmaceutical industry, with extensive knowledge of M&A, financing, commercialisation, pricing, reimbursement and product launch strategy.

Most recently, Lee was Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at EUSA Pharma, leading the company through a period of significant and sustained growth, culminating in a €750 million acquisition by Recordati (BIT: REC) in 2022. During his time at EUSA Pharma, Lee led the company’s transition, through M&A, regulatory success and commercial execution, from speciality pharma to oncology and rare disease, driving the company’s revenues from €20 million to €150 million.

Prior to this, Lee served as Head of Commercial at Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: JAZZ), overseeing commercial programmes across European and International Markets and restructuring the business to facilitate new product launches across Europe. Previously, he was Director, Sales Effectiveness at Zeneus Pharma and held several roles at Merck Sharp and Dohme (NYSE: MRK).
Lee holds a degree in Chemistry and Management Studies from King’s College London.

Dr Robert Watson Essential Pharma

Dr Robert Watson

Non-executive director

Rob joined the Essential Pharma board in 2020, bringing almost 20 years of experience in private equity, specialising in healthcare investments. Rob co-founded Gyrus Capital in October 2018, an investment firm dedicated to transformational investments in industries that address the structural needs of society and the environment.

Previously, Rob was Managing Director at Altaris Capital Partners, a leading healthcare-focused private equity firm based in New York, where he led the firm’s investments in the pharma and life science sectors. He has broad experience investing across the healthcare and technology industries in companies based in Europe, the US and Asia. Prior to Altaris, he worked at Hg Capital in London, Ares Life Sciences in Geneva, and Sofinnova Partners in Paris.

Before entering the investment field, Rob was a neuroscientist and has published research in neurodegenerative diseases. He has an MBiochem in Biochemistry and a DPhil in Neurology from the University of Oxford.

Guy Semmens Essential Pharma

Guy Semmens

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Guy joined the Essential Pharma board in 2020 and has over 25 years of experience in private equity, having co-founded Gyrus Capital, an investment firm dedicated to transformational investments in industries that address the structural needs of society and the environment, in October 2018.

Previously, Guy served as Managing Partner of Argos Soditic where he had overall responsibility for the management, fundraising, investor relations and back office of the firm as well as heading the Swiss operation.

Before joining Argos Soditic, Guy was a solicitor with Clifford Chance, the international law firm, where he was part of the firm’s management buy-out group. Guy is based in Geneva, Switzerland and holds a law degree from Durham University.

Jonathan Arnold Essential Pharma

Jonathan Arnold

Non-executive director

Jonathan joined the Board of Essential Pharma in April 2025 with over 30 years of international business experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He is currently Managing Director at BlueFin Pharma Consulting and serves as a Non-Executive Board Member at Aktiv Pharma Group, Curida AS and Advancion Corporation.

Prior to this, Jonathan was Chief Commercial Officer at Catalent Pharma Solutions, where he also held senior leadership roles including President of the Oral & Specialty Drug Division. Earlier in his career, he held key positions at Patheon, including Vice President of Global Supply Chain and Chief Procurement Officer. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Biochemistry & Nutrition from Newcastle University in the UK.

Jeff Pootoolal Essential Pharma

Jeff Pootoolal

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Mr. Pootoolal is a Partner of Sixth Street based in San Francisco and co-leads the firm’s healthcare investments. Prior to joining Sixth Street in 2014, Mr. Pootoolal worked at DRI Capital, a drug royalty investment firm, where he was responsible for transaction origination, business development and the firm’s strategy function. Mr. Pootoolal began his career in academic research working at the University of Toronto studying genomics. He received an M.B.A. from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management and both a B.Sc. and an M.Sc. from McMaster University in Biochemistry.

Simon Ramsden

simon ramsden

Chief Financial Officer

Simon joined Essential Pharma in July 2025, bringing over 20 years of pharmaceutical and healthcare industry experience in finance, business development, and M&A transactions. He was most recently CFO at Resolution Therapeutics for two years, before which he served as VP, Head of Global Finance at EUSA Pharma, overseeing all financial operations across nine international locations.

Prior to this, he spent nine years in senior finance roles at GSK, latterly managing a global budget in the Consumer Health R&D team. Simon is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland with expertise spanning commercial finance partnering, business development, and leading cross-functional teams across organizations ranging from startups to multinationals.

Helen Stephenson-Ellis

VP Human Resources

Helen joined Essential Pharma in July 2025, bringing over 25 years of Human Resources experience primarily in the biopharmaceutical sector.

Helen’s experience includes Business Partnering and HR leadership roles in GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, and MedImmune/AstraZeneca, supporting businesses across the UK, Europe and the US. More recently, she led the HR functions at Vernalis and Oxford Biomedica (now OXB), where she was Chief People Officer for 4 years.

She holds a BA (Hons) degree from Northumbria University in the UK and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Lewis Pearson

President, Established Brands

Lewis Pearson joined Essential Pharma as President, Established Brands, bringing nearly 20 years of international pharmaceutical leadership experience across regional business leadership, portfolio strategy, and commercial transformation.

He previously served as Country Manager Switzerland & Liechtenstein at Viatris, where he led the affiliate through sustained growth, portfolio optimisation, and organisational performance improvement, strengthening its hospital and specialty brands portfolio. Earlier roles included senior commercial and leadership positions across Europe focused on established brands, lifecycle management, and complex multi-market operations.

Lewis is recognised for driving value through disciplined portfolio prioritisation, operational excellence, and building high-performing teams across diverse international markets.

Georgina Mason Essential Pharma Group

Georgina Mason

VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES

Georgy joined Essential Pharma as HR Director in June 2021, bringing over 21 years of experience in people and talent across a variety of industries including Medical Devices, Pharmaceuticals and Financial News and Data. Georgy has experience offering HR advisory services from across the EMEA Region. Starting her career in contingency recruitment across disciplines and regions, Georgy transitioned to HR whilst at Bloomberg where she worked with the News division providing HR Business Partnering across EMEA, before moving on to Bausch + Lomb where she developed her HR career supporting Surgical, Pharmaceutical and Vison care consumer health.

Georgy graduated with a BA (Hons) in Sociology & Psychology from Leicester University and is a Chartered Member of the CIPD.

Gursharan Randhawa Essential Pharma Group

Gursharan Randhawa

VICE PRESIDENT, MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Gursharan joined Essential Pharma in August 2021 to help drive the inorganic growth strategy of the company. She has 15 years of business development experience in the Life Sciences and Pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Essential Pharma, Gursharan held Corporate and Business Development roles at Theramex and Mundipharma. Before that, she spent the first 8 years of her career at Imperial Innovations Ltd where she was responsible for sourcing intellectual property, out-licensing and VC-backed spinout creation from Imperial College London.

Gursharan graduated from Imperial College London with a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry and MSc in Science Communication.

Duncan Ferguson

Duncan Ferguson

VICE PRESIDENT, COMMERCIAL

Duncan joined the leadership team of Essential in May 2025, bringing over 25 years of pharmaceutical industry experience across commercial strategy, market expansion, and business development. He was most recently Head of Partner Markets at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, before which he was General Manager – European Regional Markets, overseeing operations across the Nordics, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Prior to this, Duncan held several senior commercial and operational roles, including Head of Commercial Operations, Europe CIS at Aspen Pharma and Senior Vice President, Global Commercial Strategy at LEO Pharma. He began his career at Abbott Laboratories, in a range of sales and marketing roles.

Simon Ball

Simon Ball

INTERIM CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Simon Ball was appointed Interim CEO in November 2025. Simon joined Essential Pharma in 2024 as Vice President, Pre-Commercial Business Unit, following its acquisition of Renaissance Pharma, of which he was founder and CEO. He has over 25 years of international experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Prior to Renaissance Pharma, Simon was Global Head of Business Development and UK/Nordics General Manager at Leadiant Biosciences. He previously worked at GSK in Asia-Pacific and emerging markets, where he was Head of Business Development, and held other business/corporate development roles at Takeda, EUSA Pharma (now Jazz Pharmaceuticals), and Cephalon (now Teva).

Simon has served on the boards of several life sciences companies, including Exelead and Lee’s Pharmaceutical, supporting strategy and expansion efforts. He began his career at MSD as a Sales Representative and holds a BSC in Physiology.

Nicola Heffron Essential Pharma Group

Nicola Heffron

Non-Executive Director

Nicola joined the Board of Essential Pharma in June 2025 with over 25 years of experience across the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, with a focus on rare diseases and oncology. She is currently Senior Vice President, Global Marketing & Market Access at Alexion, where she leads global commercial strategy, marketing, pricing and market access. Nicola previously held various senior roles at bluebird bio and related businesses, including Chief Operating Officer of bluebird bio Oncology, as well as Chief Operating Officer at the bluebird bio spin-out 2seventybio. Her earlier experience includes senior positions at Celgene, Shire, GSK, and Eli Lilly, specialising in oncology and respiratory diseases. Nicola holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from Bradford University and an MBA from Warwick University.

Rob Smith Essential Pharma Group

Rob Smith

CHIEF Technology OFFICER

Rob began working with Essential Pharma in May 2025 and joined the Leadership Team as CTO in June 2025, bringing over 30 years of pharmaceutical industry experience across operations, product development, and manufacturing strategy. He was most recently CEO at Surepharm Services Ltd, before which he spent 11 years at Catalent Pharma Solutions across multiple senior roles.

Prior to this, Rob held several senior operational and development roles at Patheon Inc. and Sanofi-Aventis, where he spent over 12 years leading site development projects. Rob has a strong quality background and product development knowledge, with expertise in introducing new technology and innovation linked with continuous improvement to support business development and commercial strategy across the pharmaceutical sector.

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