Empowered Patient Podcast

Dr. Sam Lee, Co-CEO of Cocrystal Pharma, discusses novel antiviral therapeutics to treat norovirus. This highly contagious virus causes acute gastroenteritis, and there is no known treatment or vaccine. Cocrystal is developing a compound that targets the essential enzymes of the virus, showing promising results in inhibiting norovirus replication and showing possible use in treating human rhinovirus and enterovirus. The goal is to develop a protease inhibitor therapeutic for norovirus that can alleviate symptoms and potentially prevent infection spread in high-risk environments.

Sam explains, "Let me step back and tell you how we approach the noro antiviral drug development. So, we're focusing on what we call direct-acting antiviral therapeutics. We're targeting viral essential enzymes, and we initiated this noro program looking at the essential genes such as RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. We have really exciting hits, but we also look at the protease. Norovirus has this essential protease, which is absolutely required for viral replication."

"During the COVID time, we focused on coronavirus protease and developed the coronavirus protease inhibitors for COVID. But at the same time, we have this drug discovery platform technology that looks at various viral proteases, including norovirus, human rhinovirus, and enterovirus. The list goes on, and we recognize that computational analysis now is the people who use artificial intelligence."

"But we had a pretty good prediction that norovirus would be actually a good target, that our coronavirus inhibitors should innovate the norovirus protease. That's how we started. Then, from there, we quickly applied our platform approach and demonstrated that, in fact, our coronavirus protease inhibitors for COVID treatment actually work well against the norovirus. I just want to point out that we also evaluated the approved drugs such as Pfizer, coronavirus protease inhibitors, and Shionogi protease inhibitors. Those compounds do not have any activity against norovirus. This is where we could differentiate compounds from existing protease inhibitors. So we're very excited about this."

#CocrystalPharma #Norovirus #RNAVirus #SuperVirus #Coronavirus #HumanRhinovirus

cocrystalpharma.com

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Dr. Sam Lee, Co-CEO of Cocrystal Pharma, discusses novel antiviral therapeutics to treat norovirus. This highly contagious virus causes acute gastroenteritis, and there is no known treatment or vaccine. Cocrystal is developing a compound that targets the essential enzymes of the virus, showing promising results in inhibiting norovirus replication and showing possible use in treating human rhinovirus and enterovirus. The goal is to develop a protease inhibitor therapeutic for norovirus that can alleviate symptoms and potentially prevent infection spread in high-risk environments.

Sam explains, "Let me step back and tell you how we approach the noro antiviral drug development. So, we're focusing on what we call direct-acting antiviral therapeutics. We're targeting viral essential enzymes, and we initiated this noro program looking at the essential genes such as RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. We have really exciting hits, but we also look at the protease. Norovirus has this essential protease, which is absolutely required for viral replication."

"During the COVID time, we focused on coronavirus protease and developed the coronavirus protease inhibitors for COVID. But at the same time, we have this drug discovery platform technology that looks at various viral proteases, including norovirus, human rhinovirus, and enterovirus. The list goes on, and we recognize that computational analysis now is the people who use artificial intelligence."

"But we had a pretty good prediction that norovirus would be actually a good target, that our coronavirus inhibitors should innovate the norovirus protease. That's how we started. Then, from there, we quickly applied our platform approach and demonstrated that, in fact, our coronavirus protease inhibitors for COVID treatment actually work well against the norovirus. I just want to point out that we also evaluated the approved drugs such as Pfizer, coronavirus protease inhibitors, and Shionogi protease inhibitors. Those compounds do not have any activity against norovirus. This is where we could differentiate compounds from existing protease inhibitors. So we're very excited about this."

#CocrystalPharma #Norovirus #RNAVirus #SuperVirus #Coronavirus #HumanRhinovirus

cocrystalpharma.com

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Dr. Ruben Mesa, Executive Director, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses advancements in the treatment of myelofibrosis, chronic leukemia, a blood cancer characterized by scarring in the bone marrow. Current therapies include stem cell transplants and ruxolitinib, a drug that helps with symptoms and spleen enlargement but does not improve anemia. A new once-a-day pill, momelotinib, known as Ojaara, has been approved, effectively reducing spleen size, improving symptoms, and effectively addressing anemia.

Ruben explains, "What we've learned over time is that the origin of the disease is a chronic leukemia that occurs in the bone marrow that is driven by different changes in the genes that control the function of the bone marrow. And then there's a secondary scarring that occurs."

"Patients with myelofibrosis might be afflicted with a drop in the blood counts and have anemia or a drop in the white blood cell count or the platelet count. They may have symptoms associated with the disease, such as fatigue, night sweats, and weight loss, and they can have enlargement of the spleen, which is a filter for the blood under the rib cage. The spleen can be enlarged and give its own set of symptoms. I mentioned it's a chronic leukemia, and it can progress to being an acute leukemia that can be concerning and potentially life-threatening with even more severe changes in the blood counts."

#Ojjaarahcp #GSK #BloodCancer #Anemia #Leukemia #Myelofibrosis #MPN

atriumhealth.org

Ojjaarahcp.com

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Dr. Ruben Mesa, Executive Director, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses advancements in the treatment of myelofibrosis, chronic leukemia, a blood disease characterized by scarring in the bone marrow. Current therapies include stem cell transplants and ruxolitinib, a drug that helps with symptoms and spleen enlargement but does not improve anemia. A new once-a-day pill, momelotinib, known as Ojaara, has been approved, effectively reducing spleen size, improving symptoms, and effectively addressing anemia.

Ruben explains, "What we've learned over time is that the origin of the disease is a chronic leukemia that occurs in the bone marrow that is driven by different changes in the genes that control the function of the bone marrow. And then there's a secondary scarring that occurs."

"Patients with myelofibrosis might be afflicted with a drop in the blood counts and have anemia or a drop in the white blood cell count or the platelet count. They may have symptoms associated with the disease, such as fatigue, night sweats, and weight loss, and they can have enlargement of the spleen, which is a filter for the blood under the rib cage. The spleen can be enlarged and give its own set of symptoms. I mentioned it's a chronic leukemia, and it can progress to being an acute leukemia that can be concerning and potentially life-threatening with even more severe changes in the blood counts."

#Ojjaarahcp #GSK #BloodCancer #Anemia #Leukemia #Myelofibrosis #MPN

atriumhealth.org

Ojjaarahcp.com

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Beena Wood, Senior VP of Safety and Medical at ArisGlobal, highlights how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing patient-centricity in drug development, pointing out the factors drawing more interest in this challenge. The LifeSphere drug development platform aims to drive patient-centric guidance by providing access to real-world data and enabling patient collaboration. Beena emphasizes the importance of engaging a diverse universe of patients and leveraging AI, data analytics, and machine learning to reveal hidden insights from the data to improve drug testing and safety.

Beena explains, "Before specifically diving into how AI helps, I want to step back a bit on what the forces that drive patient-centricity are. I don't think these forces are new. They had existed, but I think they have been accelerating that patient-centricity conversation, especially with patients increasingly taking charge of their health and becoming more empowered. I think that drives the life sciences companies to focus on that and strive harder to become more patient-centric."

"I think targeted therapies are accelerating the need to have that patient-centric mindset and strategy and operational model. For that strategy to be successful, it is important to leverage the right technology to be able to listen to those patients and to have that execution of that patient-centric digital strategy. That will be critical to achieving success."

#ArisGlobal #PatientCentricity #PatientCentric #LifeSciences #Automation #AI #DrugDevelopment

arisglobal.com

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Beena Wood, Senior VP of Safety and Medical at ArisGlobal, highlights how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing patient-centricity in drug development, pointing out the factors drawing more interest in this challenge. The LifeSphere drug development platform aims to drive patient-centric guidance by providing access to real-world data and enabling patient collaboration. Beena emphasizes the importance of engaging a diverse universe of patients and leveraging AI, data analytics, and machine learning to reveal hidden insights from the data to improve drug testing and safety.

Beena explains, "Before specifically diving into how AI helps, I want to step back a bit on what the forces that drive patient-centricity are. I don't think these forces are new. They had existed, but I think they have been accelerating that patient-centricity conversation, especially with patients increasingly taking charge of their health and becoming more empowered. I think that drives the life sciences companies to focus on that and strive harder to become more patient-centric."

"I think targeted therapies are accelerating the need to have that patient-centric mindset and strategy and operational model. For that strategy to be successful, it is important to leverage the right technology to be able to listen to those patients and to have that execution of that patient-centric digital strategy. That will be critical to achieving success."

#ArisGlobal #PatientCentricity #PatientCentric #LifeSciences #Automation #AI #DrugDevelopment

arisglobal.com

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Frank Forte, CEO of AnatomyIT, provides cybersecurity, IT, and value-based healthcare services to organizations that need help making an intelligent transformation to healthcare IT. Despite the prevalence of new technology, many providers and payers still rely on paper and fax machines, and data security risks and privacy issues still need to be addressed. Frank points out the need for change management and training to integrate generative AI and automate manual tasks to improve efficiency, clinician acceptance, and patient outcomes.

Frank explains, "But look, traditionally, when people thought of IT, they thought of a help desk. That was what came to mind. Networks, routers, cables, hardware, all those things that lived in the basement or the closet. And that's how I thought of IT. I would say that most IT initiatives were not received well, specifically from people who needed it the most, like clinicians, caregivers, and nurses, where it required a change in workflow, adopting new technology, or even remembering their passwords."

"So, they didn't particularly embrace IT initiatives. And I would say it hasn't really changed. It didn't change until the Affordable Care Act and HITECH and meaningful use requirements became the norm and drove the adoption of medical records, which transformed everything in healthcare and IT. Since then, there have been enormous evolutions, from medical records, clinical charting, and care plans to automated or technology-based revenue cycle billing applications. That's evolved into patient experience and population health. Now you have analytics and generative AI."

#AnatomyIT #ITServices #ManagedIT #Cybersecurity #HIPAACompliance #DataBackup #DataBreaches #Hacking #Encryption #Malware #Phishing #Transomware

anatomyit.com

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Frank Forte, CEO of AnatomyIT, provides cybersecurity, IT, and value-based healthcare services to organizations that need help making an intelligent transformation to healthcare IT. Despite the prevalence of new technology, many providers and payers still rely on paper and fax machines, and data security risks and privacy issues still need to be addressed. Frank points out the need for change management and training to integrate generative AI and automate manual tasks to improve efficiency, clinician acceptance, and patient outcomes.

Frank explains, "But look, traditionally, when people thought of IT, they thought of a help desk. That was what came to mind. Networks, routers, cables, hardware, all those things that lived in the basement or the closet. And that's how I thought of IT. I would say that most IT initiatives were not received well, specifically from people who needed it the most, like clinicians, caregivers, and nurses, where it required a change in workflow, adopting new technology, or even remembering their passwords."

"So, they didn't particularly embrace IT initiatives. And I would say it hasn't really changed. It didn't change until the Affordable Care Act and HITECH and meaningful use requirements became the norm and drove the adoption of medical records, which transformed everything in healthcare and IT. Since then, there have been enormous evolutions, from medical records, clinical charting, and care plans to automated or technology-based revenue cycle billing applications. That's evolved into patient experience and population health. Now you have analytics and generative AI."

#AnatomyIT #ITServices #ManagedIT #Cybersecurity #HIPAACompliance #DataBackup #DataBreaches #Hacking #Encryption #Malware #Phishing #Transomware

anatomyit.com

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Dr. Barnaby Balmforth, Co-Founder and CEO of Biofidelity, has a mission to make genomic analysis simpler, faster, and more reliable for treatment decisions. Biofidelity addresses genome sequencing challenges by using a targeted approach and unique technology that allows for local testing using PCR rather than DNA sequencers. Thanks to COVID, an existing global infrastructure of PCR equipment provides an opportunity to target specific biomarkers and deliver actionable information to physicians and patients.

Barnaby explains, "The challenge as we see it is that in this modern oncology era, there is now a wide need for multi-gene genomic profiling of patients. The only solution that has been available to enable that is DNA sequencing. The media has quite widely covered how the genomics market is growing, and the cost of sequencing is shrinking. But sadly, in the clinical space, oncologists and patients are still failing to fully experience the benefits of this technology."

"It is not a simple process to perform clinical diagnostics using DNA sequencing. That has resulted in the centralization of sequencing tests in very large laboratories with all of the associated logistical challenges of getting samples to those laboratories, processing them through these complex workflows, and then returning results to the clinicians."

"We focus on delivering the clinically actionable information to physicians as quickly as possible. So, we are not forming very large whole genome sequencing tests. We are focused on what information is associated with approved therapies, what information is recommended for testing in the treatment guidelines, and what is needed to make these treatment decisions. So, we take a more focused and targeted approach."

#Biofidelity #GenomicTesting #GenomeSequencing #Biomarkers #PCRInstruments

biofidelity com

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Dr. Barnaby Balmforth, Co-Founder and CEO of Biofidelity, has a mission to make genomic analysis simpler, faster, and more reliable for treatment decisions. Biofidelity addresses genome sequencing challenges by using a targeted approach and unique technology that allows for local testing using PCR rather than DNA sequencers. Thanks to COVID, an existing global infrastructure of PCR equipment provides an opportunity to target specific biomarkers and deliver actionable information to physicians and patients.

Barnaby explains, "The challenge as we see it is that in this modern oncology era, there is now a wide need for multi-gene genomic profiling of patients. The only solution that has been available to enable that is DNA sequencing. The media has quite widely covered how the genomics market is growing, and the cost of sequencing is shrinking. But sadly, in the clinical space, oncologists and patients are still failing to fully experience the benefits of this technology."

"It is not a simple process to perform clinical diagnostics using DNA sequencing. That has resulted in the centralization of sequencing tests in very large laboratories with all of the associated logistical challenges of getting samples to those laboratories, processing them through these complex workflows, and then returning results to the clinicians."

"We focus on delivering the clinically actionable information to physicians as quickly as possible. So, we are not forming very large whole genome sequencing tests. We are focused on what information is associated with approved therapies, what information is recommended for testing in the treatment guidelines, and what is needed to make these treatment decisions. So, we take a more focused and targeted approach."

#Biofidelity #GenomicTesting #GenomeSequencing #Biomarkers #PCRInstruments

biofidelity.com

Download the transcript here