Empowered Patient Podcast

Dr. Fahar Merchant, President, CEO, and Co-Founder of Medicenna Therapeutics, talks about the role cytokines play in managing the immune system, activating the system, or dampening the immune response depending on the circumstances. When the system is out of balance, pathogens and cancers can attack, or autoimmune diseases can occur. MDNA11 is an engineered cytokine or superkine which can be used to effectively deliver drugs to treat a range of solid tumors. in addition, MDNA11 is being fused with a checkpoint inhibitor to both stimulate the immune system and reverse the exhaustion of cancer-fighting immune cells.

Fahar elaborates, "Engineered cytokines, or superkines, essentially have been designed so that these molecules are much more effective, they're much safer to administer, and therefore have better outcomes than naturally occurring cytokines. So naturally occurring cytokines tend to be rather small. They clear the kidneys very, very quickly, so they're not in the bloodstream for long enough."

"The other thing is that some of these cytokines can be very toxic when administered in large quantities. Scientists at Stanford University looked at these cytokines. We'll talk about three cytokines, interleukin-2, interleukin-4, and interleukin-13, and thus engineered them in such a way that they can be much more effective, more potent, but at the same time much safer as well. So that's why we call them engineered. That's why we call them superkines because they are much more potent, much more powerful, than our own naturally occurring cytokines floating in our bloodstream."

#Medicenna #Oncology #Cancer #Superkines #Cytokines #IL2 #immunotherapy

Medicenna.com

Listen to the podcast here

Dr. Fahar Merchant, President, CEO, and Co-Founder of Medicenna Therapeutics, talks about the role cytokines play in managing the immune system, activating the system, or dampening the immune response depending on the circumstances. When the system is out of balance, pathogens and cancers can attack, or autoimmune diseases can occur. MDNA11 is an engineered cytokine or superkine which can be used to effectively deliver drugs to treat a range of solid tumors. in addition, MDNA11 is being fused with a checkpoint inhibitor to both stimulate the immune system and reverse the exhaustion of cancer-fighting immune cells.

Fahar elaborates, "Engineered cytokines, or superkines, essentially have been designed so that these molecules are much more effective, they're much safer to administer, and therefore have better outcomes than naturally occurring cytokines. So naturally occurring cytokines tend to be rather small. They clear the kidneys very, very quickly, so they're not in the bloodstream for long enough."

"The other thing is that some of these cytokines can be very toxic when administered in large quantities. Scientists at Stanford University looked at these cytokines. We'll talk about three cytokines, interleukin-2, interleukin-4, and interleukin-13, and thus engineered them in such a way that they can be much more effective, more potent, but at the same time much safer as well. So that's why we call them engineered. That's why we call them superkines because they are much more potent, much more powerful, than our own naturally occurring cytokines floating in our bloodstream."

#Medicenna #Oncology #Cancer #Superkines #Cytokines #IL2 #Immunotherapy

Medicenna.com

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Dr. Sachin Dev is a former physician and previous Gartner analyst, currently overseeing innovation and transformation in RGP's healthcare practice. Sachin points to the changes during the pandemic that were required for telehealth solutions to meet the needs of patients and providers. The technology necessary to build these systems into hybrid environments must take advantage of generative AI and automation with a focus on value-based care.

Sachin explains, "When we look at it from our technology standpoint, we have seen some significant development in the technology. When we look at all the different innovations, especially in the healthcare industry, both on the payer and provider side, in the last two or three years since the pandemic, we have come along very well from a technology standpoint."

"But, one thing that is lacking is the adoption. That's where, again, there's a big delta when we look at what kind of technology we have available today as to how that technology is utilized to improve patient care. There are a number of reasons why we lag from an adoption standpoint because, obviously, there's some financial pressure across our organizations."

"When we look at our healthcare system, many organizations still have some sort of legacy tools or technology that they're currently using. It's a pretty big lift for the organizations to be able to get to a point where they're able to utilize all these new buzzwords or the high technology such as ChatGPT, generative AI, automation, hyper-automation in a way where they can translate the value of that technology in terms of patient care. Again, that has a significant impact on how that technology can be leveraged and utilized to further improve our patient care and the patient experience."

#DigitalTransformation #RevenueCycleManagement #PatientExperience #HealthInnovation #HealthcareLeaders

rgp.com

Listen to the podcast here

Dr. Sachin Dev is a former physician and previous Gartner analyst, currently overseeing innovation and transformation in RGP's healthcare practice. Sachin points to the changes during the pandemic that were required for telehealth solutions to meet the needs of patients and providers. The technology necessary to build these systems into hybrid environments must take advantage of generative AI and automation with a focus on value-based care.

Sachin explains, "When we look at it from our technology standpoint, we have seen some significant development in the technology. When we look at all the different innovations, especially in the healthcare industry, both on the payer and provider side, in the last two or three years since the pandemic, we have come along very well from a technology standpoint."

"But, one thing that is lacking is the adoption. That's where, again, there's a big delta when we look at what kind of technology we have available today as to how that technology is utilized to improve patient care. There are a number of reasons why we lag from an adoption standpoint because, obviously, there's some financial pressure across our organizations."

"When we look at our healthcare system, many organizations still have some sort of legacy tools or technology that they're currently using. It's a pretty big lift for the organizations to be able to get to a point where they're able to utilize all these new buzzwords or the high technology such as ChatGPT, generative AI, automation, hyper-automation in a way where they can translate the value of that technology in terms of patient care. Again, that has a significant impact on how that technology can be leveraged and utilized to further improve our patient care and the patient experience."

#DigitalTransformation #RevenueCycleManagement #PatientExperience #HealthInnovation #HealthcareLeaders

rgp.com

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Dr. Paulo Garcia, Co-Founder of Kytopen, is developing systems to refine the types of payloads, including RNA, DNA, and CRISPR-Cas RMP, that can be delivered to primary T cells, primary Natural Killer cells, and CD34 stem cells. To maximize the number of successfully engineered cells, the Flowfect Discovery technology, using a non-viral approach, automates the process of cell engineering and gene delivery into cells while dramatically reducing the time to produce the cells.

Paulo explains, "One of the key differentiating aspects of our technology is that we are using a continuous fluid flow format for the engineering of our cells. This fluid flow contributes to the delivery of these payloads to the different cells. And to put it into perspective, the flow rates that we use are quite large. They are in the tens of milliliters per minute. And if you translate that into a throughput of cells, you're talking about being able to process anywhere between 1 to 2 billion cells in 30 seconds. And these are large quantities of cells that have the possibility of being able to be then used not only in an autologous setting but also in an allogeneic setting in which many cells have to be administered to the patients in the different doses that are required."

"No technology currently processes at the high-volume rates we're talking about. And generally, what is done today is a batch process. There are non-viral techniques, and there are viral techniques, but what is required is for these cells to be introduced into a bioreactor divide, let them grow to the relevant numbers, and then they can be administered to the patients. And with a process that leverages the throughput of the Flowfect technology that Kytopen is developing, you can really reduce the time these processes take. And that is the vein-to-vein time, and reduce it to numbers that are measured in days as opposed to in weeks or months."

"Right now, our goal is to shrink the time that it takes from discovery to process development and into clinical manufacturing with the Flowfect technology that leverages different types of energy, mechanical energy, electrical energy, and buffer chemistry to give the best outcome and chance of the cells to be engineered and modified for the therapeutic applications of our partners."

#Kytopen #CellTherapy #ClinicalManufacturing #CellEngineering

Kytopen.com

Listen to the podcast here

Dr. Paulo Garcia, Co-Founder of Kytopen, is developing systems to refine the types of payloads, including RNA, DNA, and CRISPR-Cas RMP, that can be delivered to primary T cells, primary Natural Killer cells, and CD34 stem cells. To maximize the number of successfully engineered cells, the Flowfect Discovery technology, using a non-viral approach, automates the process of cell engineering and gene delivery into cells while dramatically reducing the time to produce the cells.

Paulo explains, "One of the key differentiating aspects of our technology is that we are using a continuous fluid flow format for the engineering of our cells. This fluid flow contributes to the delivery of these payloads to the different cells. And to put it into perspective, the flow rates that we use are quite large. They are in the tens of milliliters per minute. And if you translate that into a throughput of cells, you're talking about being able to process anywhere between 1 to 2 billion cells in 30 seconds. And these are large quantities of cells that have the possibility of being able to be then used not only in an autologous setting but also in an allogeneic setting in which many cells have to be administered to the patients in the different doses that are required."

"No technology currently processes at the high-volume rates we're talking about. And generally, what is done today is a batch process. There are non-viral techniques, and there are viral techniques, but what is required is for these cells to be introduced into a bioreactor divide, let them grow to the relevant numbers, and then they can be administered to the patients. And with a process that leverages the throughput of the Flowfect technology that Kytopen is developing, you can really reduce the time these processes take. And that is the vein-to-vein time, and reduce it to numbers that are measured in days as opposed to in weeks or months."

"Right now, our goal is to shrink the time that it takes from discovery to process development and into clinical manufacturing with the Flowfect technology that leverages different types of energy, mechanical energy, electrical energy, and buffer chemistry to give the best outcome and chance of the cells to be engineered and modified for the therapeutic applications of our partners."

#Kytopen #CellTherapy #ClinicalManufacturing #CellEngineering

Kytopen.com

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Tuvik Beker, CEO, and Ranit Aharonov, CTO of Pangea Biomed, have designed ENLIGHT, a computational platform driving precision oncology that matches cancer tumors with available therapies. Drawing on an understanding of synthetic mortality and synthetic rescue, this approach focuses on how the interaction between genes increases or decreases the tumor cell's fitness and the likely response to a drug. Determining which populations might benefit most from a drug opens the door to new treatments for common and rare diseases.

Tuvik explains, "When we match therapies to patients, just according to the pure genetic characteristics of the tumor, sometimes we miss potential therapies, and sometimes we give patients therapies that do not work very effectively. To solve that, we developed ENLIGHT, which looks at the broader characteristics of the tumor, not just at the target gene, but multiple interactions, and that way, we can find potential therapies that are missed by the current guidelines and common biomarkers."

Ranit elaborates, "So when we search for these interactions between genes, we look at a lot of available cancer data. We have a large database of a lot of cell lines that were treated and human tumors, and we know the survival of the patients and so on, but we don't need to know anything about what drugs they got. Our algorithms allow us, by looking at a lot of correlations between different activations of genes and survival and what happens to cells, we are able to find what are the pairs in the entire genome of genes that their co-activation affects the fitness or the tumor survival. And by knowing this, you can think of it as a sort of vulnerability map of tumors."

"One of the things I haven't yet described and I think wouldn't have happened without this revolution is that we can now move a step further. When we look at a patient's tumor, we don't necessarily need to measure the RNA expression or the activation of genes directly. We can look at the tumor through a microscope using standard histopathology slides, the ones with the bluish and pinkish coloring that have been used for decades and are really available everywhere."

#PrecisionsMedicine #Oncology #PrecisionOncology #RareDisease #Biotech #Startup #AI #MachineLearning

pangeabiomed.com

Listen to the podcast here

Tuvik Beker, CEO, and Ranit Aharonov, CTO of Pangea Biomed, have designed ENLIGHT, a computational platform driving precision oncology that matches cancer tumors with available therapies. Drawing on an understanding of synthetic mortality and synthetic rescue, this approach focuses on how the interaction between genes increases or decreases the tumor cell's fitness and the likely response to a drug. Determining which populations might benefit most from a drug opens the door to new treatments for common and rare diseases.

Tuvik explains, "When we match therapies to patients, just according to the pure genetic characteristics of the tumor, sometimes we miss potential therapies, and sometimes we give patients therapies that do not work very effectively. To solve that, we developed ENLIGHT, which looks at the broader characteristics of the tumor, not just at the target gene, but multiple interactions, and that way, we can find potential therapies that are missed by the current guidelines and common biomarkers."

Ranit elaborates, "So when we search for these interactions between genes, we look at a lot of available cancer data. We have a large database of a lot of cell lines that were treated and human tumors, and we know the survival of the patients and so on, but we don't need to know anything about what drugs they got. Our algorithms allow us, by looking at a lot of correlations between different activations of genes and survival and what happens to cells, we are able to find what are the pairs in the entire genome of genes that their co-activation affects the fitness or the tumor survival. And by knowing this, you can think of it as a sort of vulnerability map of tumors."

"One of the things I haven't yet described and I think wouldn't have happened without this revolution is that we can now move a step further. When we look at a patient's tumor, we don't necessarily need to measure the RNA expression or the activation of genes directly. We can look at the tumor through a microscope using standard histopathology slides, the ones with the bluish and pinkish coloring that have been used for decades and are really available everywhere."

#PrecisionsMedicine #Oncology #PrecisionOncology #RareDisease #Biotech #Startup #AI #MachineLearning

pangeabiomed.com

Download the transcript here

Gloria Caulfield is the Vice President of Strategic Alliances for Tavistock and Executive Director of the Lake Nona Institute, which is part of the Lake Nona Life Sciences Innovation and Wellness Community. Lake Nona is a planned city within Orlando, Florida, that is focused on the health and well-being of the citizens who live and work there. One of the key economic drivers is the health and life sciences innovation cluster which includes the University of Central Florida College of Medicine, a VA Medical Center, and the Nemours Children's Hospital, a state-of-the-art pediatric healthcare system.

Gloria explains, "There is no question that it's a collaborative community when you're building something this new and this unique. We have leaders of these institutions that have come from all different parts of the country to bring their careers here to focus on building this new ecosystem. It fosters a spirit of collaboration, which starts with Tavistock. Tavistock as the developer, we chair research councils and CEO councils and communication councils, and just a wide range of things to bring key leaders together just for that purpose."

"One that I'll mention that's unique is the Lake Nona Performance Center, and the Lake Nona Performance Center is a medically integrated fitness facility. Again, going back to my initial comment that this whole community was built and designed with people, optimizing health and human potential is really at the forefront of our focus. This performance center is a nexus of multiple things. There's clinical care delivery, there's fitness services, there's sports performance, there's mind/body practices, all under one roof."

"This community is the sum of the parts. We have these big anchor organizations, which I've mentioned. We have innovation centers. One of those is the leAD Accelerator. It's a joint venture between Tavistock Group, which owns Lake Nona, and the Adi Dassler family, the founders of Adidas. It was set up and explicitly designed to support some of the best young companies in the health and sports tech arena."

#LakeNona #Healthcare #Innovation #Community #LifeSciences #Wellness #SportsMedicine #HealthcareInvesting

Tavistock.com

Listen to the podcast here

Gloria Caulfield is the Vice President of Strategic Alliances for Tavistock and Executive Director of the Lake Nona Institute, which is part of the Lake Nona Life Sciences Innovation and Wellness Community. Lake Nona is a planned city within Orlando, Florida, that is focused on the health and well-being of the citizens who live and work there. One of the key economic drivers is the health and life sciences innovation cluster which includes the University of Central Florida College of Medicine, a VA Medical Center, and the Nemours Children's Hospital, a state-of-the-art pediatric healthcare system.

Gloria explains, "There is no question that it's a collaborative community when you're building something this new and this unique. We have leaders of these institutions that have come from all different parts of the country to bring their careers here to focus on building this new ecosystem. It fosters a spirit of collaboration, which starts with Tavistock. Tavistock as the developer, we chair research councils and CEO councils and communication councils, and just a wide range of things to bring key leaders together just for that purpose."

"One that I'll mention that's unique is the Lake Nona Performance Center, and the Lake Nona Performance Center is a medically integrated fitness facility. Again, going back to my initial comment that this whole community was built and designed with people, optimizing health and human potential is really at the forefront of our focus. This performance center is a nexus of multiple things. There's clinical care delivery, there's fitness services, there's sports performance, there's mind/body practices, all under one roof."

"This community is the sum of the parts. We have these big anchor organizations, which I've mentioned. We have innovation centers. One of those is the leAD Accelerator. It's a joint venture between Tavistock Group, which owns Lake Nona, and the Adi Dassler family, the founders of Adidas. It was set up and explicitly designed to support some of the best young companies in the health and sports tech arena."

#LakeNona #Healthcare #Innovation #Community #LifeSciences #Wellness #SportsMedicine #HealthcareInvesting

Tavistock.com

Download the transcript here