Returning guest, Dr. Shankar Musunuri, Chairman, Co-founder, and CEO of Ocugen, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing novel gene and cell therapies and vaccines discusses the company’s current work on a vaccine to treat COVID-19. They have recently acquired the rights to develop and commercialize an intranasal COVID-19 vaccine from Washington University for the U.S., Europe, and Japan markets. In addition to infectious diseases, they also have a robust pipeline to treat eye disease and orthopedics.
INTERVIEWS
Understanding the Best Practices to Set Up an Infusion Clinic
Returning guest, Catherine Swick, Vice President & General Manager, Intrafusion by McKesson, a leading provider of outpatient infusion management services, discusses best practices for enhancing a current or setting up a new infusion clinic.
FDA Approves First Companion Diagnostic for HER2 Low Metastatic Breast Cancer
Dr. Shalini Singh, MD, Chief Medical Partner Oncology Network currently serving on the Clinical Development and Medical Affairs leadership team at Roche Diagnostics Solutions discusses the FDA approval of a new indication for Roche’s PATHWAY anti-HER2 (4B5) test to identify metastatic breast cancer patients with low HER2 expression for whom recently FDA approved ENHERTU ® may be considered as a targeted treatment.
Stories And Lessons From Life In The ER
Dr. Paul Weinberg, MD, who is now retired discusses his new book “ER DOCTOR: Tales Of An Emergency Room Doctor” where he provides an inside look at what it’s like to work in the ER.
Takeda Dengue Vaccine Receives Positive CHMP Opinion
Returning guest, Dr. Derek Wallace, MBBS, Vice President and Global Dengue Program Head at Takeda discusses the news that Takeda’s dengue vaccine candidate, TAK-003, was recommended for approval by the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) for the prevention of dengue disease caused by any serotype in individuals four years of age and older in Europe and in dengue-endemic countries which participated in the EU-M4all procedure. The news follows the vaccine’s first approval in Indonesia.
Kintara Therapeutics – Seeking New Horizons for Cancer Patients with Novel Therapies
Robert Hoffman, President and CEO at Kintara Therapeutics, a company dedicated to the development of unique anti-cancer therapeutics discusses VAL-083, a “first-in-class”, small-molecule chemotherapeutic with a novel mechanism of action that has demonstrated clinical activity against a range of cancers, including central nervous system (Glioblastoma Multiforme), ovarian and other solid tumors (e.g., non-small cell lung cancer, bladder cancer, head and neck) in U.S. clinical trials.
Guardant Health – Blood-Based Screening for Colorectal Cancer
Returning guest, Dr. Craig Eagle, Chief Medical Officer of Guardant Health discusses clinical trial results on colonoscopy effectiveness and why blood-based tests can offer more accessible and convenient (but still effective) screening options.
Biomerica – At-Home Screening Tests and Personalized Medicine
Zack Irani, CEO of Biomerica, a global biomedical technology company that develops, patents, manufactures and markets advanced diagnostic and therapeutic products, discusses tools to make at-home screenings for diseases like breast cancer, colon cancer, etc. simple and easy. He talks about the new technology that’s available, new screening guidelines, and why simple at-home tests and tools can help change the way diseases are managed. He also talks about new diagnostic guided therapies, such as InFoods IBS, which is designed to allow physicians to identify patient-specific foods that when removed, may alleviate or improve an individual’s IBS symptoms.
CVS Health Care Insights Study – Women’s Health
Dr. Joanne Armstrong, MD, MPH, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Women’s Health and Genomics at CVS Health discusses the company’s commitment to support women as they face unique health challenges, in addition to often placing other’s needs before their own.
Lagging Cancer Diagnoses Pose Threat to Progress Made in Cancer Related Deaths
Returning guest, Dr. Harvey Kaufman, MD, FCAP, Senior Medical Director, Medical Informatics at Quest Diagnostics, the world’s leading provider of diagnostic information services, discusses a new Quest Diagnostics Health Trends study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, which shows that diagnosis of the two most common cancers – breast and prostate – remains down from pre-pandemic levels (17% and 11% respectively). This suggests people are still delaying preventative care, missing annual screenings, and could be living with unknown cancers, potentially leading to diagnosis at more advanced stages of the disease and higher rates of morbidity and death.