Empowered Patient Podcast

Chris Sullens, CEO of CentralReach, offers a range of technology solutions to support providers, therapists, educators, and parents working with individuals with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities. The goal is to streamline administrative tasks, replacing paper-based procedures with digital tools and allowing professionals to spend more in-person time with clients. The digital CR Care Coordinator helps train parents to reinforce the work of the therapists, which leads to better outcomes for the child and the behavior technician.

Chris explains, "At CentralReach, our focus is providing technology and associated services to providers, therapists, special educators, and others who are working with primarily the autistic community and those with broader intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs). That technology spans everything from patient-provider management systems, practice management systems, data collection on the clinical side, curriculum content assessments, as well as a host of technologies that we provide to schools and organizations that are teaching students in special education."

"We still see a lot of entire practices, frankly, that are managing schedules and managing their business, collecting data, and doing assessments that are paper-based today. There's a big shift to digitizing all aspects of a provider's business. We now have a digital assessments product, where historically, we sold books for the ABLLS and AFLS. We still sell books for those who want to use them, but the digital platform provides a lot more reporting, analytics, and trending and streamlines a lot of the process. And so, we're seeing good adoption of that."

"From my standpoint, the most valuable role technology can play is supporting the behavior analyst and supporting the behavior technician. Allow them to do their job more effectively, to reduce some of the tasks that they need to do that tend to be more back office or reporting oriented, so that they can spend more time providing care to those they're working with."

#CentralReach #ABA #BCBAs #Autism #IDD #DigitalHealth

centralreach.com

Listen to the podcast here

Chris Sullens, CEO of CentralReach, offers a range of technology solutions to support providers, therapists, educators, and parents working with individuals with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities. The goal is to streamline administrative tasks, replacing paper-based procedures with digital tools and allowing professionals to spend more in-person time with clients. The digital CR Care Coordinator helps train parents to reinforce the work of the therapists, which leads to better outcomes for the child and the behavior technician.

Chris explains, "At CentralReach, our focus is providing technology and associated services to providers, therapists, special educators, and others who are working with primarily the autistic community and those with broader intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs). That technology spans everything from patient-provider management systems, practice management systems, data collection on the clinical side, curriculum content assessments, as well as a host of technologies that we provide to schools and organizations that are teaching students in special education."

"We still see a lot of entire practices, frankly, that are managing schedules and managing their business, collecting data, and doing assessments that are paper-based today. There's a big shift to digitizing all aspects of a provider's business. We now have a digital assessments product, where historically, we sold books for the ABLLS and AFLS. We still sell books for those who want to use them, but the digital platform provides a lot more reporting, analytics, and trending and streamlines a lot of the process. And so, we're seeing good adoption of that."

"From my standpoint, the most valuable role technology can play is supporting the behavior analyst and supporting the behavior technician. Allow them to do their job more effectively, to reduce some of the tasks that they need to do that tend to be more back office or reporting oriented, so that they can spend more time providing care to those they're working with."

#CentralReach #ABA #BCBAs #Autism #IDD #DigitalHealth

centralreach.com

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Brian Strem, President and CEO of Kiora Pharmaceuticals, is developing a small molecule drug to treat orphan retinal diseases. Their drug KIO-301 restores vision in patients with inherited retinal disease. By giving retinal ganglion cells the ability to sense light, signals can be sent to the brain to effectively see using cells that are not normally light-sensitive. These molecular photoswitches can change shape based on the presence or absence of light and allow a patient to see the direction and movement of light.

Brian explains, "It is dependent on the specific mutation. So, we know that there are certain gene mutations that a child will literally be born with immediate signs and symptoms of that disease. Whether that is immediately being blind, so being born blind, versus some of the other ones where you don't tend to get the onset of disease symptoms until the second, or third decade of life when you have difficulty seeing in the dark. Then all of a sudden, that progresses to losing peripheral vision and eventually central vision. So, it is pretty specific to the mutation as to the onset, the timing of onset, and the progression rate."

"KIO-301 is based around what chemists would call an Azobenzene. Azobenzenes are notorious for changing their shape based on different external stimuli. And in the case of our molecule, that stimulus is light within the visible spectrum. So, getting more towards, well, what does that mean, and how could we leverage that interesting chemistry? Patients who have these IRDs and specifically, we've now just wrapped up a phase 1 trial, which I can get into in a minute, for a disease called retinitis pigmentosa. In patients with RP, we know that their photoreceptors, or their rods and cones, die. That's part of that mutation that these patients are born with."

"Yet there are other cells within the retina that still are the ones that connect to the brain, and those are called the retinal ganglion cells. We know that those cells stay alive for a long time, although they undergo some changes and modifications. And what our molecule can do, KIO-301, is it goes specifically into those retinal ganglion cells that do not have living photoreceptors upstream anymore because they're dead. And what the molecule does is it gives that retinal ganglion cell the ability to sense light and to signal the brain that light is present. And then, when you take the light away, it's able to basically stop that signaling. So, in the sense that it's turning a cell that's not normally light sensitive into a light switch."

#KioraPharmaceuticals #VisionAwarenessMonth #InheritedRetinalDisease #RareDisease #OrphanRetinalDiseases

kiorapharma.com

Listen to the podcast here

Brian Strem, President and CEO of Kiora Pharmaceuticals, is developing a small molecule drug to treat orphan retinal diseases. Their drug KIO-301 restores vision in patients with inherited retinal disease. By giving retinal ganglion cells the ability to sense light, signals can be sent to the brain to effectively see using cells that are not normally light-sensitive. These molecular photoswitches can change shape based on the presence or absence of light and allow a patient to see the direction and movement of light.

Brian explains, "It is dependent on the specific mutation. So, we know that there are certain gene mutations that a child will literally be born with immediate signs and symptoms of that disease. Whether that is immediately being blind, so being born blind, versus some of the other ones where you don't tend to get the onset of disease symptoms until the second, or third decade of life when you have difficulty seeing in the dark. Then all of a sudden, that progresses to losing peripheral vision and eventually central vision. So, it is pretty specific to the mutation as to the onset, the timing of onset, and the progression rate."

"KIO-301 is based around what chemists would call an Azobenzene. Azobenzenes are notorious for changing their shape based on different external stimuli. And in the case of our molecule, that stimulus is light within the visible spectrum. So, getting more towards, well, what does that mean, and how could we leverage that interesting chemistry? Patients who have these IRDs and specifically, we've now just wrapped up a phase 1 trial, which I can get into in a minute, for a disease called retinitis pigmentosa. In patients with RP, we know that their photoreceptors, or their rods and cones, die. That's part of that mutation that these patients are born with."

"Yet there are other cells within the retina that still are the ones that connect to the brain, and those are called the retinal ganglion cells. We know that those cells stay alive for a long time, although they undergo some changes and modifications. And what our molecule can do, KIO-301, is it goes specifically into those retinal ganglion cells that do not have living photoreceptors upstream anymore because they're dead. And what the molecule does is it gives that retinal ganglion cell the ability to sense light and to signal the brain that light is present. And then, when you take the light away, it's able to basically stop that signaling. So, in the sense that it's turning a cell that's not normally light sensitive into a light switch."

#KioraPharmaceuticals #VisionAwarenessMonth #InheritedRetinalDisease #RareDisease #OrphanRetinalDiseases

kiorapharma.com

Download the transcript here

Mark Litton, President and CEO of Athira Pharma, discusses advancements in treating neurodegenerative diseases, highlighting the challenges in treating these diseases. Athira's approach uses the body's natural repair mechanism to enhance the repair and protection of nerve cells. Their lead molecule, fosgonimeton, enhances the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and crosses the blood-brain barrier to effectively target neurodegeneration.

Mark explains, "At Athira, we're taking a completely novel approach where we're using the body's natural repair mechanism to help repair. We have spent many years designing molecules that enhance this mechanism. This is what we call the HGF/MET biology. This is a biology that has been known for over 30 years. It was originally discovered coming from the liver. What we know about it is that it's important in repairing, protecting, healing, and developing nerve cells."

"What we found in a lot of neurodegenerative diseases is that this repair mechanism is impaired, or it slows down as we get older. One of the keys is you've got a molecule, and it's HGF, and then it binds its receptor, the MET receptor. When it binds that receptor, that's when the cell gets activated and starts repairing. There are numerous factors that happen along the way. There are two places one could enhance the receptor. We've decided to enhance the HGF, the protein itself, to help it bind to its receptor."

#Athira #Alzheimers #Parkinsons #Dementia #ALS #AD #PD #NeurodegenerativeDiseases #Neurodegeneration #NeuronalHealth #Caregivers #PatientCommunity

athira.com

Listen to the podcast here

Mark Litton, President and CEO of Athira Pharma, discusses advancements in treating neurodegenerative diseases, highlighting the challenges in treating these diseases. Athira's approach uses the body's natural repair mechanism to enhance the repair and protection of nerve cells. Their lead molecule, fosgonimeton, enhances the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and crosses the blood-brain barrier to effectively target neurodegeneration.

Mark explains, "At Athira, we're taking a completely novel approach where we're using the body's natural repair mechanism to help repair. We have spent many years designing molecules that enhance this mechanism. This is what we call the HGF/MET biology. This is a biology that has been known for over 30 years. It was originally discovered coming from the liver. What we know about it is that it's important in repairing, protecting, healing, and developing nerve cells."

"What we found in a lot of neurodegenerative diseases is that this repair mechanism is impaired, or it slows down as we get older. One of the keys is you've got a molecule, and it's HGF, and then it binds its receptor, the MET receptor. When it binds that receptor, that's when the cell gets activated and starts repairing. There are numerous factors that happen along the way. There are two places one could enhance the receptor. We've decided to enhance the HGF, the protein itself, to help it bind to its receptor."

#Athira #Alzheimers #Parkinsons #Dementia #ALS #AD #PD #NeurodegenerativeDiseases #Neurodegeneration #NeuronalHealth #Caregivers #PatientCommunity

athira.com

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Jim Murphy, CEO of Greenphire, discusses the company's role in addressing the financial lifecycle of clinical trials. Greenphire works with sponsors, CROs, and research sites to automate and simplify payment processes, provide patient services, and remove burdens for patients and site personnel. The aim is to improve patient retention and accelerate clinical development by streamlining processes from traditional manual methods to digital solutions that address budgeting, grant payments, and patient reimbursements.

Jim explains, "There are so many solutions that address data collection points in clinical trials. We're not one of those. We're a company focused on solving more of the business problems of clinical research. For example, we provide workflows that automate and simplify the payment processes from sponsors or CROs to investigative research sites. We provide patient convenience services that enable and support participants to maintain their journey on a clinical trial, giving them reimbursements, travel support, logistics, and even reminders of certain things they need to do."

"When Greenphire got its start, sites were paying with cash and checks, and there was a cash box at a typical research site. Somebody would have to get the key and open it up and hold the patient there for another half hour. It consumed a huge amount of time for the study team. It's something that they can do in 28 seconds now."

#Greenphire #ClinicalTrials #PatientEngagement #ClinicalResearch

greenphire.com

Listen to the podcast here

Jim Murphy, CEO of Greenphire, discusses the company's role in addressing the financial lifecycle of clinical trials. Greenphire works with sponsors, CROs, and research sites to automate and simplify payment processes, provide patient services, and remove burdens for patients and site personnel. The aim is to improve patient retention and accelerate clinical development by streamlining processes from traditional manual methods to digital solutions that address budgeting, grant payments, and patient reimbursements.

Jim explains, "There are so many solutions that address data collection points in clinical trials. We're not one of those. We're a company focused on solving more of the business problems of clinical research. For example, we provide workflows that automate and simplify the payment processes from sponsors or CROs to investigative research sites. We provide patient convenience services that enable and support participants to maintain their journey on a clinical trial, giving them reimbursements, travel support, logistics, and even reminders of certain things they need to do."

"When Greenphire got its start, sites were paying with cash and checks, and there was a cash box at a typical research site. Somebody would have to get the key and open it up and hold the patient there for another half hour. It consumed a huge amount of time for the study team. It's something that they can do in 28 seconds now."

#Greenphire #ClinicalTrials #PatientEngagement #ClinicalResearch

greenphire.com

Download the transcript here

Julia Regan, CEO and Co-Founder of RxLightning discussed the company's platform for streamlining the process of accessing specialty medications. The traditional process of getting the necessary consent and shipment of these drugs involves a significant amount of paperwork and delays in delivery. RxLightning aims to digitize and automate this process by removing the need for physical paper by using digital tools to connect all parties to ensure fast and affordable access to care. By eliminating paper-based processes, they have achieved a completion rate of 85% of applications within 24 hours.

Julia explains, "Specialty medications are always an interesting topic because, over the last 15 years, the definition of a specialty med has evolved with the new medications and molecules coming to market. So when we define specialty meds, we're talking about the high-cost medications that could treat rare diseases. Still, they also treat things like oncology, dermatology issues, GI, RA, and even allergy immunology. So, it varies across the spectrum, but these traditionally are thousands of dollars a month. Because of the cost and complexity of the medications, when providers make a diagnostic decision and determine treatment, there's just a ton of paperwork to get a patient on therapy."

"So one is access paperwork, everything from insurance coverage and cost to restrictions that the payer may have to affordability because of the cost as well. That could be everything from free drug grant programs to manufacturer programs. So RxLightning is dedicated to taking all those processes that traditionally are done on paper and are slow and making a digital experience to remove the paperwork and then connect the different parties across that patient journey to ensure expedited, fast access, and affordable access to care."

"Yes, it's very much physical paper. We look at the specialty market for over 1,200 medications. And some of these medications could have hundreds of different types of paperwork to process and touch. So, it's complex for the provider and the patient. And when you talk about some disease states, it's not just one therapy that a patient's on. It's a combination of therapies to treat the disease to try to get a positive outcome. So, it's very overwhelming for many people involved in the process."

#RxLightning #MedAccess #SpecialityPharmacy #SpecialityMedications #RareDisease #Startup #HealthTech #PatientAccess

rxlightning.com

Listen to the podcast here

Julia Regan, CEO and Co-Founder of RxLightning discussed the company's platform for streamlining the process of accessing specialty medications. The traditional process of getting the necessary consent and shipment of these drugs involves a significant amount of paperwork and delays in delivery. RxLightning aims to digitize and automate this process by removing the need for physical paper by using digital tools to connect all parties to ensure fast and affordable access to care. By eliminating paper-based processes, they have achieved a completion rate of 85% of applications within 24 hours.

Julia explains, "Specialty medications are always an interesting topic because, over the last 15 years, the definition of a specialty med has evolved with the new medications and molecules coming to market. So when we define specialty meds, we're talking about the high-cost medications that could treat rare diseases. Still, they also treat things like oncology, dermatology issues, GI, RA, and even allergy immunology. So, it varies across the spectrum, but these traditionally are thousands of dollars a month. Because of the cost and complexity of the medications, when providers make a diagnostic decision and determine treatment, there's just a ton of paperwork to get a patient on therapy."

"So one is access paperwork, everything from insurance coverage and cost to restrictions that the payer may have to affordability because of the cost as well. That could be everything from free drug grant programs to manufacturer programs. So RxLightning is dedicated to taking all those processes that traditionally are done on paper and are slow and making a digital experience to remove the paperwork and then connect the different parties across that patient journey to ensure expedited, fast access, and affordable access to care."

"Yes, it's very much physical paper. We look at the specialty market for over 1,200 medications. And some of these medications could have hundreds of different types of paperwork to process and touch. So, it's complex for the provider and the patient. And when you talk about some disease states, it's not just one therapy that a patient's on. It's a combination of therapies to treat the disease to try to get a positive outcome. So, it's very overwhelming for many people involved in the process."

#RxLightning #MedAccess #SpecialityPharmacy #SpecialityMedications #RareDisease #Startup #HealthTech #PatientAccess

rxlightning.com

Download the transcript here