INTERVIEWS

Returning guest, Dr. Mike Clayman, co-founder and CEO of Flexion Therapeutics discusses their FDA approved drug ZILRETTA® ((triamcinolone acetonide extended-release injectable suspension) for the treatment of osteoarthritis and how the company navigated the pandemic to keep meds in the hands of treating physicians and patients. He talks about how physicians are using ZILRETTA in place of elective surgeries, hence, the major increase in unit purchases from April to June 2020.

Dr. Ravi Jhaveri, MD, Associate Division Head of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine discusses how parents can prepare their families for this year’s flu season, while navigating alongside a global pandemic.

Mei Mei Hu, JD, co-founder and co-CEO and Peter Diamandis, MD, co-founder and vice chairman at COVAXX, a division of United Biomedical, discuss UB-612, which could be the first multitope peptide-based vaccine for COVID-19 based on a commercially proven platform that has shown promising efficacy in animals and is safe and scalable. In September 2020 the first healthy adult volunteers were dosed with UB-612 in the company’s Phase 1 trial in Taiwan.

Dr. Rahul Aras, CEO of Iterion Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotechnology company developing novel cancer therapeutics discusses the company’s lead product, Tegavivint, a unique nuclear β-catenin inhibitor, which is currently advancing to a Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with progressive desmoid tumors.  The company will also pursue additional clinical programs in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and pediatric cancers this year and in 2021.

Tiffany and Wil Cook share their experience living and coping with the diagnosis of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD).  When Will was homeschooled he turned to video games and has made many friends around the world.  Tiffany discusses her work as Family Resource Manager with CureDuchenne and the inaugural virtual gaming tournament hosted by CureDuchenne and PTC Therapeutics on October 10 to connect gamers and people living with DMD across the country. 

Dr. Bradley Marder, a nephrologist for nearly 20 years and now Medical Director of Nephrology at Horizon Therapeutics discusses working to educate other clinicians about gout’s connection with other organs of the body, especially the kidneys.  Gout is a disease of systemic uric acid accumulation throughout the body and can contribute to the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and other comorbid conditions like hypertension and cardiovascular disease.  He is helping to ensure nephrologists are just as knowledgeable and effective at treating gout as rheumatologists.

James Coffin, PhD, President and Chief Operating Officer at Sema4, a patient-center health intelligence digital company, discusses the new ability of the company to handle up to 15,000 COVID-19 viral and 4000 antibody tests a day with 24 hour turnaround for COVID and 48 for the antibody test.  He talks about how Sema4 is working directly with higher education, assisting government and large businesses to get students, staff, and workers back to school and work safely.  There is also Sema4 Works, an app that enables symptom tracking through simple self-reporting of symptoms by registered individuals.

Returning guest, Dr. Gregg Sylvester, Chief Medical Officer at Seqirus discusses real-world evidence on the company’s MF59® Adjuvanted, Trivalent Influenza Vaccine that was recently published in the peer-reviewed medical journal “Vaccines”.  The study demonstrated that this vaccine was more effective than a standard-dose non-adjuvanted trivalent seasonal vaccine in preventing influenza-related medical office visits and hospitalizations/ER visits in adults 65+ during the 2017/18 U.S. influenza season.

Cathy Kuhn, PharmD, Director of Strategy Consulting at Updox, the only place to manage healthcare communications across both in-person and virtual care, discusses the pharmacy of the future by implementing a full virtual care strategy that is not only cost-effective and resource-efficient, but that also improves the patient experience. She also talks about the economic impact of COVID-19, how perceptions of telehealth have changed, and how it will be used post-COVID-19.

Returning guest, Dr. Gregg Sylvester, Chief Medical Officer at Seqirus discusses real-world evidence on the company’s cell-based quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIVc), which was published in the peer-reviewed medical journal “Vaccine”. The study shows the value of cell-based quadrivalent influenza vaccine in preventing influenza-related hospitalization in the U.S. 2017/18 season.