INTERVIEWS

Eli Frakes, PhD, Scientific Director of Women’s Health in US Medical Affairs at AbbVie discusses data that AbbVie presented at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Clinical and Scientific Meeting 2022 on the use of ORILISSA ® (elagolix) 200mg BID with hormonal add-back therapy, or the “adding back” of a small amount of estradiol and/or progestogens to help reduce potential side effects of treatment, for moderate-to-severe endometriosis-associated pain (EAP).     

Leif Pedersen, president of software at Certara, a global leader in biosimulation, discusses the company’s partnership with Chemaxon, a leading cheminformatics company that provides chemical software development platforms for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Through the partnership, Certara and Chemaxon aim to reduce manual work for drug developers and deliver a seamless user workflow from analytics and compound design to research tracking for small molecules and biologics. For additional information, learn more here. 

Greg Sturmer, President and CEO of Elysium Therapeutics discusses the company’s mission to reduce suffering from severe acute pain, opioid-use disorder, and fatal opioid overdose by developing first-in-class products with profiles that address the key limitations and dangers associated with opioids used today. 

Returning guest, Dr. Omar Sinno, MD, MBA, U.S. Medical Lead, Rare Disease at UCB discusses positive efficacy and safety results from two phase 3 studies evaluating zilucoplan, a self-administered, subcutaneous (SC) peptide inhibitor of complement component 5 (C5 inhibitor), and rozanolixizumab, an SC-infused monoclonal antibody targeting the neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) in adults with generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG). UCB is currently the only company investigating two potential treatments with multiple mechanisms of action in gMG. These results were presented as posters at the 14th Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) International Conference on Myasthenia and Related Disorders. Zilucoplan and rozanolixizumab are not approved for use in any indication by any regulatory authority worldwide.

Returning guest, Dr. Keyan Salari, a urologic oncologist and surgeon, Co-Director, Prostate Cancer Genetics Program at Massachusetts General Hospital discusses his study “Impact of Family History and Germline Genetic Risk Variants on Long-Term Outcomes of Active Surveillance-Eligible Prostate Cancer” that was presented at AUA 2022. 

Dr. Cory Rice, Medical Director for Biote‘s training clinic and research facility discusses longevity precision medicine and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy for both men and women. He talks about signs of hormone imbalance, long-term effects, and how to help a patient get their body back in balance. He also debunks some of the most common myths about testosterone and explains some of the most cutting-edge delivery systems, such as pelleting. 

Chris Round, President of EMD Serono, the healthcare business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany in the U.S. and Canada discusses what’s next for the company; his experience leading the business in four international markets and how it helped prepare him for his current role leading the U.S. business; fertility solutions that have helped mothers conceive and birth more than 3 million babies globally; and infusing healthcare professional, patient, and caregiver voices into EMD Serono programs and collaborations. 

Dr. Philip Kantoff, Co-founder and CEO of Convergent Therapeutics, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on developing next-generation radiopharmaceutical therapies for cancer discusses the development of a radio-antibody, CONV01-α, a first-in-class Actinium-linked prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted antibody. In a Phase 1 Single Ascending Dose trial of CONV01-α in men with prostate cancer, most patients responded and 44% of the patients experienced a greater than 50% decline in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels after receiving only a single dose of CONV01-α.

James Mish, CEO of 22nd Century Group, a leading agricultural biotechnology company, talks about the company’s commitment and mission to improving human health with reduced nicotine tobacco, hemp/cannabis, and hops advanced plant technology. The company’s new VLN cigarette is a reduced nicotine content cigarette with 95% less nicotine than a conventional cigarette. VLN ® recently received FDA authorization – making it the only cigarette to have received modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) authorization. It is now available through a national pilot in the Chicago area. Mish talks about the clinical studies that have determined how this new cigarette reduces harm by breaking the addiction to nicotine – along with helping people smoke less and make more attempts at quitting. In addition, he discusses the recently announced transformational acquisition of GVB Biopharma, one of the largest providers of hemp-derived active ingredients for the pharmaceutical and consumer goods industries worldwide. This acquisition establishes 22nd Century Group as a global one-of-a-kind company to serve the rapidly growing hemp/cannabis ingredient market.

Nelson Ambrogio, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Oncology at Bayer Pharmaceuticals, US., discusses his Boston Marathon run in memory of his brother who died from a rare form of cancer called cholangiocarcinoma. Ambrogio was a charity runner for the Target Cancer Foundation (TCF), which supports initiatives at the forefront of rare cancer treatment by funding innovative research, fostering collaborations, and raising awareness among scientists, clinicians, and patients. The funds raised by TCF will help give hope to patients facing rare cancers and their families. Nelson talks about his work at Bayer and the company’s investment in a paradigm shift towards precision medicine, providing true value for people with rare cancers and the oncology space as a whole.