Empowered Patient Podcast

Chris Paradise, VP of Research and Development at Rion, is taking an acellular approach to developing next-generation regenerative medicines to treat degenerative diseases. The proprietary Rion system PEP, purified exosome product, uses extracellular vesicles or exosomes isolated from human blood platelets to send regenerative messages to cells to stimulate faster healing. This regenerative therapeutic allows for the administration in various forms, such as nebulization for pulmonary conditions and topical application for wounds.

Chris explains, "What our focus has shifted towards at Rion is now an acellular approach, so it doesn't involve the use of cells or other components that have been proposed in the past. But we're focusing on extracellular vesicles or exosomes, and we can discuss those in more detail in a minute. But the point of emphasis is that it overcomes many of the limitations the field has previously faced. We're excited to offer reproducible, consistent, and, most importantly, accessible and affordable regenerative therapeutic with a significant impact."

"If you think about how two cells communicate with one another, one of the ways they do this is to send messages in little packages between one another, known as extracellular vesicles. It's the fundamental way that cells and tissues more broadly communicate with each other, send signals to one another, and respond to their environment. And so what you find within these vesicles is essentially what one cell is trying to say to another. And they're designed such that they're incredibly stable and designed to do exactly that, which is deliver messages to cells."

"I'll back up to the source of the material, which is human platelets. Most people are familiar with platelets as a key component of your blood. If we get an injury or a cut, the bleeding tends to stop relatively quickly. That's because platelets respond to that injury site and form a clot, which stops the bleeding. Much like the conversation about the newfound appreciation for exosomes, I've certainly gained a new appreciation for the impact platelets have, not only on the control of bleeding but, more importantly, the regenerative processes that are jump-started after that to heal the tissues."

#RionTX #RegenerativeMedicine #RegenerativeTherapeutics #Acellular #PlateletDerived #Exosomes

riontx.com

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Chris Paradise, VP of Research and Development at Rion, is taking an acellular approach to developing next-generation regenerative medicines to treat degenerative diseases. The proprietary Rion system PEP, purified exosome product, uses extracellular vesicles or exosomes isolated from human blood platelets to send regenerative messages to cells to stimulate faster healing. This regenerative therapeutic allows for the administration in various forms, such as nebulization for pulmonary conditions and topical application for wounds.

Chris explains, "What our focus has shifted towards at Rion is now an acellular approach, so it doesn't involve the use of cells or other components that have been proposed in the past. But we're focusing on extracellular vesicles or exosomes, and we can discuss those in more detail in a minute. But the point of emphasis is that it overcomes many of the limitations the field has previously faced. We're excited to offer reproducible, consistent, and, most importantly, accessible and affordable regenerative therapeutic with a significant impact."

"If you think about how two cells communicate with one another, one of the ways they do this is to send messages in little packages between one another, known as extracellular vesicles. It's the fundamental way that cells and tissues more broadly communicate with each other, send signals to one another, and respond to their environment. And so what you find within these vesicles is essentially what one cell is trying to say to another. And they're designed such that they're incredibly stable and designed to do exactly that, which is deliver messages to cells."

"I'll back up to the source of the material, which is human platelets. Most people are familiar with platelets as a key component of your blood. If we get an injury or a cut, the bleeding tends to stop relatively quickly. That's because platelets respond to that injury site and form a clot, which stops the bleeding. Much like the conversation about the newfound appreciation for exosomes, I've certainly gained a new appreciation for the impact platelets have, not only on the control of bleeding but, more importantly, the regenerative processes that are jump-started after that to heal the tissues."

#RionTX #RegenerativeMedicine #RegenerativeTherapeutics #Acellular #PlateletDerived #Exosomes

riontx.com

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Fady Boctor, President and Chief Commercial Officer of Petros Pharmaceuticals, discusses the process of transitioning drugs from prescription to over-the-counter status, which includes conducting studies to determine label comprehension. In this situation, the FDA reviews the package wording to determine if the consumer can self-select the drug safely without a physician's involvement. With a focus on men's health issues like erectile dysfunction, Petros also sees the opportunity to educate consumers, reduce healthcare costs, and potentially identify related conditions that might require further investigation.

Fady explains, "Switches had been occurring, those prescriptions to OTC switches, have been occurring since really 1974, 1975. Over the past many years, about 106 products have been switched from prescription to OTC. The common denominator among those switches is that they're relatively safe products. We're talking antihistamines, allergy medications, and smoking cessation products. These are products that are relatively safe."

"We're trying to establish a new technology platform that speaks to transience and instantaneous engagement with the product. Imagine in a retail pharmacy aisle or at home on your mobile or desktop computer, you look at the product, engage with the drug facts label, and if you are appropriate for selection, use technology that supports your appropriate self-selection. You purchase the product as an OTC non-prescription, an amazing new frontier we're excited to be a part of."

"In 2022 or 2023, we're looking at roughly a 70,000 primary care physician shortage. By 2030, that's supposed to get into the triple digits of roughly 120,000 primary care physician shortages. We're already seeing it, where the waiting lists and the time to appointment are going into the weeks and months. Sometimes, these patients in a far more educated community with WebMD and the like, easily self-diagnosable conditions, should be actionable, with prescription medication switching to OTC to help meet that consumer where they need it and when they need it."

#PetrosPharma $PTPI #STENDRA #OTCSwitch #ErectileDysfunction #Avanafil

PetrosPharma.com

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Fady Boctor, President and Chief Commercial Officer of Petros Pharmaceuticals, discusses the process of transitioning drugs from prescription to over-the-counter status, which includes conducting studies to determine label comprehension. In this situation, the FDA reviews the package wording to determine if the consumer can self-select the drug safely without a physician's involvement. With a focus on men's health issues like erectile dysfunction, Petros also sees the opportunity to educate consumers, reduce healthcare costs, and potentially identify related conditions that might require further investigation.

Fady explains, "Switches had been occurring, those prescriptions to OTC switches, have been occurring since really 1974, 1975. Over the past many years, about 106 products have been switched from prescription to OTC. The common denominator among those switches is that they're relatively safe products. We're talking antihistamines, allergy medications, and smoking cessation products. These are products that are relatively safe."

"We're trying to establish a new technology platform that speaks to transience and instantaneous engagement with the product. Imagine in a retail pharmacy aisle or at home on your mobile or desktop computer, you look at the product, engage with the drug facts label, and if you are appropriate for selection, use technology that supports your appropriate self-selection. You purchase the product as an OTC non-prescription, an amazing new frontier we're excited to be a part of."

"In 2022 or 2023, we're looking at roughly a 70,000 primary care physician shortage. By 2030, that's supposed to get into the triple digits of roughly 120,000 primary care physician shortages. We're already seeing it, where the waiting lists and the time to appointment are going into the weeks and months. Sometimes, these patients in a far more educated community with WebMD and the like, easily self-diagnosable conditions, should be actionable, with prescription medication switching to OTC to help meet that consumer where they need it and when they need it."

#PetrosPharma $PTPI #STENDRA #OTCSwitch #ErectileDysfunction #Avanafil

PetrosPharma.com

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Dr. Holly Miller, Chief Medical Officer at MedAllies, discusses the importance of data interoperability and usability to provide clinicians and patients with information that can lead to better-informed decisions. The Sequoia Data Usability Project focuses on ensuring that data is trustworthy and useable. MedAllies is involved in the related Taking Root Movement, which promotes the adoption of the Sequoia Data Usability Implementation Guide. Holly emphasizes the need for solutions to provide a friendly user interface and software design that improves the providers' workflow.

Holly explains, "Medallies offers multiple interoperable networks, ensuring the secure transmission of critical health information among healthcare constituents. It's important that the listeners understand that we've moved to a world where a lot of data is being captured electronically. To optimize clinician-patient decision-making and patients being able to make decisions for themselves, that data has to move across the healthcare environment to wherever someone is being seen for care."

"This project and Sequoia understand that for healthcare constituents to adopt and use interoperability, the data has to be usable, reliable, and trustworthy. The data usability workgroup, currently comprised of 391 organizations with 486 participants, has focused on ensuring that data received through interoperability is trustworthy and usable. The first implementation guide by this group was published about a year ago and focused on data provenance, effective use of codes, reducing duplicates, data integrity, data tagging for searchability, and the effective use of narrative captured in electronic health records."

"In many cases, it's about making the right thing to do the easy thing. And so, the system's user interface, where the data comes across into an end-user system, has to be easy to use. It has to be easy to integrate into the system that receives it and to be easy to reconcile it with the data that already exists in your system."

#MedAllies #Interoperability #TEFCA #QHINs #HealthData #DataExchange

MedAllies.com

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Dr. Holly Miller, Chief Medical Officer at MedAllies, discusses the importance of data interoperability and usability to provide clinicians and patients with information that can lead to better-informed decisions. The Sequoia Data Usability Project focuses on ensuring that data is trustworthy and useable. MedAllies is involved in the related Taking Root Movement, which promotes the adoption of the Sequoia Data Usability Implementation Guide. Holly emphasizes the need for solutions to provide a friendly user interface and software design that improves the providers' workflow.

Holly explains, "Medallies offers multiple interoperable networks, ensuring the secure transmission of critical health information among healthcare constituents. It's important that the listeners understand that we've moved to a world where a lot of data is being captured electronically. To optimize clinician-patient decision-making and patients being able to make decisions for themselves, that data has to move across the healthcare environment to wherever someone is being seen for care."

"This project and Sequoia understand that for healthcare constituents to adopt and use interoperability, the data has to be usable, reliable, and trustworthy. The data usability workgroup, currently comprised of 391 organizations with 486 participants, has focused on ensuring that data received through interoperability is trustworthy and usable. The first implementation guide by this group was published about a year ago and focused on data provenance, effective use of codes, reducing duplicates, data integrity, data tagging for searchability, and the effective use of narrative captured in electronic health records."

"In many cases, it's about making the right thing to do the easy thing. And so, the system's user interface, where the data comes across into an end-user system, has to be easy to use. It has to be easy to integrate into the system that receives it and to be easy to reconcile it with the data that already exists in your system."

#MedAllies #Interoperability #TEFCA #QHINs #HealthData #DataExchange

MedAllies.com

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Dr. Mark Lomax, CEO of PEP Health, a new way to listen to the patient's voice. PEP, the Patient Experience Platform, collects and analyzes patient comments from various digital platforms to gain insights into the quality of care provided by healthcare organizations. Using AI to interpret and understand the sentiment of the comments, the company is providing real-time data that can help organizations make better management decisions and improve patient care. The technology can also be used for risk management and early detection of problems within healthcare facilities to improve patient safety and outcomes.

Mark explains, "We've got a few arms to it, but the fundamental part of what we do is collect all the comments that patients might post anywhere on the digital landscape from social media, online review sites, doctor review platform sites. We aggregate it all together and then make sense of it so that we can listen to a whole population. We listen to the whole US, and every location, every hospital, and every clinic that sits within the US. We are listening in real time with our technology. That's exciting because then it goes onto a ton of different insights and new ways of understanding good and bad care and why there is good and bad care in different places. We do all of that because, fundamentally, we want to improve the patient experience. Our mission at PEP Health is to enable organizations and individuals to make better choices so that care gets better for patients."

"What is underpinning it is a science, a psychology science called the wisdom of crowds. We call it the wisdom of patients, and for every few that might be a bit off on the needle, most people can identify what's good and bad about healthcare, giving us the truth. It helps us zone in on what matters. This has been validated for a number of different tools now so that we know the insights we derive matter, and that's great for people when they come to use it."

#PEPHealth #PatientExperience #PatientEmpowerment #CareQuality #HealthTech #HealthAI #SocialListening

pephealth.ai

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Dr. Mark Lomax, CEO of PEP Health, a new way to listen to the patient's voice. PEP, the Patient Experience Platform, collects and analyzes patient comments from various digital platforms to gain insights into the quality of care provided by healthcare organizations. Using AI to interpret and understand the sentiment of the comments, the company is providing real-time data that can help organizations make better management decisions and improve patient care. The technology can also be used for risk management and early detection of problems within healthcare facilities to improve patient safety and outcomes.

Mark explains, "We've got a few arms to it, but the fundamental part of what we do is collect all the comments that patients might post anywhere on the digital landscape from social media, online review sites, doctor review platform sites. We aggregate it all together and then make sense of it so that we can listen to a whole population. We listen to the whole US, and every location, every hospital, and every clinic that sits within the US. We are listening in real time with our technology. That's exciting because then it goes onto a ton of different insights and new ways of understanding good and bad care and why there is good and bad care in different places. We do all of that because, fundamentally, we want to improve the patient experience. Our mission at PEP Health is to enable organizations and individuals to make better choices so that care gets better for patients."

"What is underpinning it is a science, a psychology science called the wisdom of crowds. We call it the wisdom of patients, and for every few that might be a bit off on the needle, most people can identify what's good and bad about healthcare, giving us the truth. It helps us zone in on what matters. This has been validated for a number of different tools now so that we know the insights we derive matter, and that's great for people when they come to use it."

#PEPHealth #PatientExperience #PatientEmpowerment #CareQuality #HealthTech #HealthAI #SocialListening

pephealth.ai

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Dr. Fiona Elwood, VP and Neurodegeneration Disease Area Stronghold leader at J&J Innovative Medicine discusses the challenges in developing new therapies for neurodegenerative diseases in part because of the heterogeneity of the patient population. She highlights the difficulty in defining the subsets of these diseases and identifying the right patients for clinical trials. Emphasizing the importance of early detection, J&J Innovative Medicine is developing strategies to support the move to precision medicine in treating diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's to prevent patients from moving to a symptomatic stage of disease.

Fiona explains, "For example, in Alzheimer's disease, as many people know, one of the primary symptoms is dementia, but dementia is a symptom. There can be other reasons why people develop forms of dementia. Alzheimer's disease is a specific disease where now we know patients can be defined by the pathology in the patient's brain. So specifically, the patients develop amyloid plaques, extracellular clumps or plaques of the amyloid beta peptide, and intracellular, inside neurons, tangles of a protein called tau. So, it's these pathological hallmarks that characterize or define Alzheimer's disease and lead to symptoms such as dementia."

"We know that Alzheimer's, for example, starts about ten years before patients display symptoms. But we don't know exactly how quickly each person might progress or the specific subset of symptoms that each patient may be particularly susceptible to."

"Then maybe the third thing I'll call out that's been a real challenge to us has been the time course of disease and the fact that the Alzheimer's pathology can start 10, 20 years before patients show up at their doctor's office. Historically, we weren't able to detect those very earliest stages of disease. Now, because of the field's investment in different biomarker technologies, imaging technologies, digital technologies, and even highly sensitive blood-based screening technologies, we can identify patients right at the beginning of that pathological cascade."

#JNJInnovativeMedicine #Neuroscience #Neurodegeneration #AlzheimersDisease

jnj.com

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Dr. Fiona Elwood, VP and Neurodegeneration Disease Area Stronghold leader at J&J Innovative Medicine discusses the challenges in developing new therapies for neurodegenerative diseases in part because of the heterogeneity of the patient population. She highlights the difficulty in defining the subsets of these diseases and identifying the right patients for clinical trials. Emphasizing the importance of early detection, J&J Innovative Medicine is developing strategies to support the move to precision medicine in treating diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's to prevent patients from moving to a symptomatic stage of disease.

Fiona explains, "For example, in Alzheimer's disease, as many people know, one of the primary symptoms is dementia, but dementia is a symptom. There can be other reasons why people develop forms of dementia. Alzheimer's disease is a specific disease where now we know patients can be defined by the pathology in the patient's brain. So specifically, the patients develop amyloid plaques, extracellular clumps or plaques of the amyloid beta peptide, and intracellular, inside neurons, tangles of a protein called tau. So, it's these pathological hallmarks that characterize or define Alzheimer's disease and lead to symptoms such as dementia."

"We know that Alzheimer's, for example, starts about ten years before patients display symptoms. But we don't know exactly how quickly each person might progress or the specific subset of symptoms that each patient may be particularly susceptible to."

"Then maybe the third thing I'll call out that's been a real challenge to us has been the time course of disease and the fact that the Alzheimer's pathology can start 10, 20 years before patients show up at their doctor's office. Historically, we weren't able to detect those very earliest stages of disease. Now, because of the field's investment in different biomarker technologies, imaging technologies, digital technologies, and even highly sensitive blood-based screening technologies, we can identify patients right at the beginning of that pathological cascade."

#JNJInnovativeMedicine #Neuroscience #Neurodegeneration #AlzheimersDisease

jnj.com

Download the transcript here