INTERVIEWS

As the most common type of non-cancerous tumors in women of reproductive age, uterine fibroids can cause physical symptoms, including heavy menstrual bleeding. Additionally, uterine fibroids can take a significant toll on quality of life, relationships and intimacy, employment, and create an overall reduced quality of well-being in a patient’s health.   Dr. Veronica Gillispie-Bell, Senior Site Lead and Section Head of Obstetrics and Gynecology  at Ochsner Kenner in New Orleans discusses heavy menstrual bleeding as a symptom of uterine fibroids, options in the treatment landscape, including ORIAHNN™, the first, non-surgical, oral medication developed specifically to treat heavy menstrual bleeding associated with uterine fibroids in premenopausal patients.   She also shares how HCPs can open a dialogue with patients about their individual symptoms, lifestyle and treatment goals, and to address their concerns sooner rather than later.  

Dr. Steve Romano, MD, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals discusses the results of their pivotal Phase 3 STRATA2016 clinical trial of StrataGraft ®, an allogeneic cellularized scaffold product for the treatment of adult patients with deep partial-thickness burns. The data was published in “Burns” peer review journal (August 2021). It received FDA approval in June 2021 and can provide burn surgeons with an alternative biologic treatment option for patients with deep partial-thickness burns.

Nearly 1.8 million people globally die of lung cancer each year, more than the second and third most deadly cancers combined (colorectal and stomach cancer, respectively) because it is often detected and treated too late. Dr. Avrum “Avi” Spira, MD, MSc, Global Head of the Lung Cancer Initiative (LCI) at Johnson & Johnson, a renowned pulmonologist and lung cancer researcher, wants to make lung cancer a disease of the past. He discusses why early detection with lung cancer is key, what recent advancements in imaging, robotics and artificial intelligence have unlocked in new ways to screen for and access cancer, and how LCI is working to develop solutions to prevent, intercept and cure lung cancer. 

Dr. Chris Anzalone, PhD, President and CEO of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals discusses new positive patient-level data from their AROAAT2002 global Phase 2 study of ARO-AAT, an RNA therapeutic being co-developed by the company and Takeda, in patients with liver disease caused by alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD).   He also talks about the company’s RNAi platform.

Dr. Arezou Khosroshahi​, ​MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at Emory University​ discusses the enrollment of the first patient in Horizon Therapeutics‘ Phase 2 trial to evaluate HZN-7734, ​a first- in-class, fully human monoclonal antibody to treat people with moderate to severely active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). SLE is an autoimmune disease where the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells and tissues. Of the 5 million people living with a form of lupus, SLE accounts for nearly 70 percent of cases and presents a tremendous unmet treatment need.​

Dr. James Tursi, MD, Chief Scientific Officer of Ferring Pharmaceuticals discusses developments in microbiome-based therapeutics for the treatment of recurrent C. difficile (rCDI) infection. The current standard of care treatment for rCDI is currently antibiotics. While they are important, they do not restore the underlying health of the gut microbiome, nor can they stop C. diff​icile​ spores from growing back. He talks about what their late stage pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial results showed regarding mitigating recurrent C. difficile infection.​ ​The ​gut ​microbiome is an emerging area where biotherapeutics are being developed to address certain diseases and conditions.​ 

Returning guest, Dr. Kaveh Safavi, Global Health Lead of Accenture Health, discusses the findings from their 2021 Digital Health Tech Vision report that surveyed 399 healthcare executives across six countries to better understand their view of the impact technology is having on the healthcare industry and what this means for the future.  

Girish Navani, CEO and Cofounder of eClinicalWorks, a leader in healthcare IT solutions discusses PRISMA, the healthcare industry’s first health information search engine that leverages a “one patient, one record” approach for fast and accurate decision-making that can be lifesaving. This platform helps to better know patients and provide more effective clinical care and can even cut patient wait times from approximately 30 minutes to 10 minutes. 

Returning guest, Dr. Larry Edwards, ​MD, MACP, MACR, rheumatologist and Chairman of the Gout Education Society discusses managing gout during the summer, with travel and get togethers, and how HCPs can prepare their patients to manage proper medications and lifestyle habits during this time. 

Returning guest, Dr. Jeremy Levin, Chairman and CEO of Ovid Therapeutics, Inc., and former chairman of the global Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) discusses the new COVID variant Delta-Plus, a virus that mutated from the highly infective Delta version, and why vaccinations are so crucial.