Empowered Patient Podcast

Dr. Myron Czuczman is the Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Citius Pharmaceuticals, which is developing an advanced treatment for cutaneous T cell lymphoma, CTCL, a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The original version of their drug ONTAK has been reformulated, and I/ONTAK is now in clinical trials to confirm efficacy in controlling severe itching and improving the quality of life for patients.

Myron explains, "This is a protein, a fusion protein, of interleukin-2, the whole molecule that has been fused with diphtheria toxin. With respect to any of the cells like the cells we're talking about, CTCL, it actually binds to the IL-2 receptor, internalizes, and in that manner, kills the tumor cells."

"The agent ONTAK was taken off the market, and this new version, I/ONTAK or E7777, is a reformulation. It's more purified and it's about one and a half to two times more bioactive than the original ONTAK. From the clinical trials which led to our submission of the BLA recently, we've looked at the safety and efficacy, and it's consistent with the original formulation. There are no new safety issues, and it has good activity in patients, even heavily pretreated patients."

"The issue here is, unfortunately, this disease, the relapsed/refractory CTCL, is incurable. The only time one has a chance to cure it is if you get it early, if you have young patients that have what we call an HLA compatible donor. In a very small number of patients, an allogeneic stem cell transplant could be curative. But the vast majority of these patients, who are elderly, are not candidates for allogeneic transplant. So, unfortunately, these are incurable individuals with bad diseases."

@CitiusPharma #Cancer #Lymphoma #RareDisease #Immunotherapy $CTXR

citiuspharma.com

Listen to the podcast here

Dr. Myron Czuczman is the Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Citius Pharmaceuticals, which is developing an advanced treatment for cutaneous T cell lymphoma, CTCL, a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The original version of their drug ONTAK has been reformulated, and I/ONTAK is now in clinical trials to confirm efficacy in controlling severe itching and improving the quality of life for patients.

Myron explains, "This is a protein, a fusion protein, of interleukin-2, the whole molecule that has been fused with diphtheria toxin. With respect to any of the cells like the cells we're talking about, CTCL, it actually binds to the IL-2 receptor, internalizes, and in that manner, kills the tumor cells."

"The agent ONTAK was taken off the market, and this new version, I/ONTAK or E7777, is a reformulation. It's more purified and it's about one and a half to two times more bioactive than the original ONTAK. From the clinical trials which led to our submission of the BLA recently, we've looked at the safety and efficacy, and it's consistent with the original formulation. There are no new safety issues, and it has good activity in patients, even heavily pretreated patients."

"The issue here is, unfortunately, this disease, the relapsed/refractory CTCL, is incurable. The only time one has a chance to cure it is if you get it early, if you have young patients that have what we call an HLA compatible donor. In a very small number of patients, an allogeneic stem cell transplant could be curative. But the vast majority of these patients, who are elderly, are not candidates for allogeneic transplant. So, unfortunately, these are incurable individuals with bad diseases."

@CitiusPharma #Cancer #Lymphoma #RareDisease #Immunotherapy $CTXR

citiuspharma.com

Download the transcript here

Brian Pepin is the CEO of Rune Labs, and Aura Oslapas is a woman with Parkinson's who helped create the underlying software for Rune's StrivePD platform. With a focus on precision neurology and a mission to collect relevant data, Rune has refined Aura's work to create an app that allows patients to manage their everyday life better. By combining digital data with logged information, the platform provides a customized plan for each patient to manage unique symptoms.

Aura explains, "I've been working in the design world for 40 years. I was someone who, early on in my Parkinson's journey, was sensitive to the medication and developing side effects pretty early on and was having challenges describing what was going on to the neurologist. I got a lot of nodding but not necessarily understanding. So personally, I wanted to better track and learn from the interplay of the medications with my symptoms and the side effects I was experiencing."

Brian elaborates, "So especially through the work that we've done with Apple and getting the FDA approval with them around turning the Apple Watch into a Parkinson's symptom monitor, we're able to get this wonderful time series picture of what's going on when a patient is at home in their own environment. This gives us a look at how that relates to different medications that they're taking, or different therapies that they're on, or some of these different environmental effects, mood, exercise, and diet that can really affect somebody's quality of life."

@Rune_Labs #ParkinsonsDisease #PrecisionNeurology #PrecisionMedicine #StrivePD #DigitalHealth

runelabs.io

Listen to the podcast here

Brian Pepin is the CEO of Rune Labs, and Aura Oslapas is a woman with Parkinson's who helped create the underlying software for Rune's StrivePD platform. With a focus on precision neurology and a mission to collect relevant data, Rune has refined Aura's work to create an app that allows patients to manage their everyday life better. By combining digital data with logged information, the platform provides a customized plan for each patient to manage unique symptoms.

Aura explains, "I've been working in the design world for 40 years. I was someone who, early on in my Parkinson's journey, was sensitive to the medication and developing side effects pretty early on and was having challenges describing what was going on to the neurologist. I got a lot of nodding but not necessarily understanding. So personally, I wanted to better track and learn from the interplay of the medications with my symptoms and the side effects I was experiencing."

Brian elaborates, "So especially through the work that we've done with Apple and getting the FDA approval with them around turning the Apple Watch into a Parkinson's symptom monitor, we're able to get this wonderful time series picture of what's going on when a patient is at home in their own environment. This gives us a look at how that relates to different medications that they're taking, or different therapies that they're on, or some of these different environmental effects, mood, exercise, and diet that can really affect somebody's quality of life."

@Rune_Labs #ParkinsonsDisease #PrecisionNeurology #PrecisionMedicine #StrivePD #DigitalHealth

runelabs.io

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Ryne Natzke, Chief Revenue Officer for Sphere, works with healthcare providers to facilitate patient payments using technology to smooth the process. Medical debt is increasing, and reports are that nearly half of Americans can not afford an unexpected $500 medical expense without stress to their budgets. Transparency of costs and adding flexibility to patients for payments are key to reducing the impact of preventative and unexpected medical costs.

Ryan explains, "The thing about medical debt also is that it, by definition, is almost always unexpected. You don't plan to go to the emergency room or do anything like that, and this is beyond just having insurance. This is debt that a patient owes after insurance already takes care of their side. So, it's impacting a large number of Americans and has a really big impact on their day-to-day lives and day-to-day finances."

"The two things that come to mind for me are transparency and flexibility. As we talked about at the beginning, a lot of it is the unknown and for the most part, is also unexpected. Giving patients information about what they owe and why ahead of time, before the care has been delivered before the claim is adjudicated and the final bill becomes due, is important, before it's too late to change behaviors. So, if you can help somebody budget, or if you could help somebody prepare for what's going to be coming down the line, it allows them to make more informed decisions."

@SphereCommerce #MedicalDebt #HealthcarePriceTransparency #MedicalInsurance #Patients

SphereCommerce.com

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Ryne Natzke, Chief Revenue Officer for Sphere, works with healthcare providers to facilitate patient payments using technology to smooth the process. Medical debt is increasing, and reports are that nearly half of Americans can not afford an unexpected $500 medical expense without stress to their budgets. Transparency of costs and adding flexibility to patients for payments are key to reducing the impact of preventative and unexpected medical costs.

Ryan explains, "The thing about medical debt also is that it, by definition, is almost always unexpected. You don't plan to go to the emergency room or do anything like that, and this is beyond just having insurance. This is debt that a patient owes after insurance already takes care of their side. So, it's impacting a large number of Americans and has a really big impact on their day-to-day lives and day-to-day finances."

"The two things that come to mind for me are transparency and flexibility. As we talked about at the beginning, a lot of it is the unknown and for the most part, is also unexpected. Giving patients information about what they owe and why ahead of time, before the care has been delivered before the claim is adjudicated and the final bill becomes due, is important, before it's too late to change behaviors. So, if you can help somebody budget, or if you could help somebody prepare for what's going to be coming down the line, it allows them to make more informed decisions."

@SphereCommerce #MedicalDebt #HealthcarePriceTransparency #MedicalInsurance #Patients

SphereCommerce.com

Download the transcript here

Kat Kwiatkowski, the Senior VP of Clinical Development at Strata Oncology, has tested over 60,000 patients and used their clinical outcome data to build advanced multivariate biomarkers to better predict patient response to approved cancer treatments. Using molecular profiling data, Strata has created an immunotherapy response score leveraging DNA components and the immune gene expression components to better capture the variability and response to PD-L1 therapies.

Kat explains, "People with the same cancer, meaning if they have breast or lung cancer, can have different forms of the disease. So responses to treatment can and do vary. Prior to 2012, the most popular treatment option for patients with advanced cancer was chemotherapy, which is extremely toxic. And due to rapid advancements in molecular and biotechnology, we're now able to do a few things better."

"One, we're better at identifying cancers earlier, when our chances for cures are the highest. Second, we're better at characterizing the tumors, to understand what makes them vulnerable. Three, with that information, we can then build drugs to target those specific vulnerabilities. And finally, we can now also better comprehend the interaction between drug and patient, to understand which types of patients at the molecular level will respond to or have increased side effects. This personalization really provides us with an extraordinary opportunity to improve patient outcomes."

#StrataOncology #ImmunoOncology #PrecisionOncology #MolecularProfiling #RealWorldData

strataoncology.com

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Kat Kwiatkowski, the Senior VP of Clinical Development at Strata Oncology, has tested over 60,000 patients and used their clinical outcome data to build advanced multivariate biomarkers to better predict patient response to approved cancer treatments. Using molecular profiling data, Strata has created an immunotherapy response score leveraging DNA components and the immune gene expression components to better capture the variability and response to PD-L1 therapies.

Kat explains, "People with the same cancer, meaning if they have breast or lung cancer, can have different forms of the disease. So responses to treatment can and do vary. Prior to 2012, the most popular treatment option for patients with advanced cancer was chemotherapy, which is extremely toxic. And due to rapid advancements in molecular and biotechnology, we're now able to do a few things better."

"One, we're better at identifying cancers earlier, when our chances for cures are the highest. Second, we're better at characterizing the tumors, to understand what makes them vulnerable. Three, with that information, we can then build drugs to target those specific vulnerabilities. And finally, we can now also better comprehend the interaction between drug and patient, to understand which types of patients at the molecular level will respond to or have increased side effects. This personalization really provides us with an extraordinary opportunity to improve patient outcomes."

#StrataOncology #ImmunoOncology #PrecisionOncology #MolecularProfiling #RealWorldData

strataoncology.com

Download the transcript here

Dr. Leonard Ganz is the Chief Medical Officer and Divisional Vice President of Medical Affairs for Abbott's Cardiac Rhythm Management Division. Traditional pacemakers include a pulse generator that is connected to the inside of the heart with insulated wires. These leads relay the electrical activity that goes between the pacemaker and the heart muscle. The Abbott Aveir VR is a single-chambered leadless pacemaker with improved battery longevity that is implanted inside the heart and eliminates the risks from leads.

Len explains, "There are different types of slow heart rhythms that people develop. Most commonly, people develop slow heart rhythms as they get older, but there are situations in which younger people develop slow heart rhythms as well. And at the most fundamental level, a pacemaker has to sense the intrinsic heartbeat, or heart rhythm, and then stimulate or pace the heart if the intrinsic heart rhythm isn't adequate or isn't as fast as the physician would like it to be."

"Over the five or six decades that we've had implantable pacemakers, there've been many, many advancements. Pacemakers are fully programmable in terms of heart rates and other features. We've gone from pacemakers that sense and pace in a single heart chamber to pacemakers that sense in two heart chambers and then even three heart chambers. So there have been tremendous advances over these years. One of the most important advances in recent years has been the development of what we call a leadless pacemaker."

#AbbottCardio #Pacemaker #ImplantablePacemakers #LeadlessPacemakers #HeartMuscle

abbott.com

Listen to the podcast here

Dr. Leonard Ganz is the Chief Medical Officer and Divisional Vice President of Medical Affairs for Abbott's Cardiac Rhythm Management Division. Traditional pacemakers include a pulse generator that is connected to the inside of the heart with insulated wires. These leads relay the electrical activity that goes between the pacemaker and the heart muscle. The Abbott Aveir VR is a single-chambered leadless pacemaker with improved battery longevity that is implanted inside the heart and eliminates the risks from leads.

Len explains, "There are different types of slow heart rhythms that people develop. Most commonly, people develop slow heart rhythms as they get older, but there are situations in which younger people develop slow heart rhythms as well. And at the most fundamental level, a pacemaker has to sense the intrinsic heartbeat, or heart rhythm, and then stimulate or pace the heart if the intrinsic heart rhythm isn't adequate or isn't as fast as the physician would like it to be."

"Over the five or six decades that we've had implantable pacemakers, there've been many, many advancements. Pacemakers are fully programmable in terms of heart rates and other features. We've gone from pacemakers that sense and pace in a single heart chamber to pacemakers that sense in two heart chambers and then even three heart chambers. So there have been tremendous advances over these years. One of the most important advances in recent years has been the development of what we call a leadless pacemaker."

#AbbottCardio #Pacemaker #ImplantablePacemakers #LeadlessPacemakers #HeartMuscle

abbott.com

Download the transcript here