Could a cure for your disease already be sitting on a pharmacy shelf? In this episode, we explore the revolutionary work of Every Cure, a nonprofit on a mission to unlock the hidden potential of existing drugs through a groundbreaking approach to drug repurposing. We sit down with co-founder Dr. David Fajgenbaum, a physician-scientist who saved his own life by discovering a new use for an old drug after being diagnosed with the rare Castleman disease. His journey sparked a global movement to find treatments for the millions of patients suffering from diseases with no approved therapies.
This episode dives deep into the systemic gaps in the pharmaceutical industry and how Every Cure is using cutting-edge technology to fill them. Dr. David Fajgenbaum shares his incredible personal story, from near-fatal illness to pioneering a new field of medical research. We discuss how his team is leveraging AI for drug discovery and rediscovery, building an AI platform that systematically matches thousands of approved drugs against thousands of diseases to find promising new treatments. This data-driven approach, which Dr. Fajgenbaum calls
"computational pharmacophenomics," is already yielding incredible results for both common and rare disease treatments.
We explore the nonprofit's unique model, fueled by major funding from partners like ARPA-H and the TED Audacious Project, which allows them to pursue promising treatments that lack financial incentives for traditional development. You'll hear the stunning success stories of this drug repurposing strategy in action—from Leucovorin, a vitamin that is helping nonverbal children with autism speak their first words, to lidocaine, a common numbing agent showing a 29% reduction in mortality for breast cancer patients in a large clinical trial. This conversation reveals how technologies like biomedical knowledge graphs and large language models are accelerating the search for cures, turning a 100-day analysis into a 17-hour process and bringing hope to patients worldwide.
ABOUT OUR GUEST:
Dr. David Fajgenbaum is a physician-scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, a co-founder of the nonprofit Every Cure, and the national bestselling author of "Chasing My Cure." His journey into medicine was inspired by his mother's battle with cancer. During medical school, his life was derailed by a diagnosis of idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease, a rare and deadly condition. After five near-death relapses, he turned to research, discovering that a drug approved for organ transplants, Sirolimus, could save his life. He has been in remission for over 11 years on this repurposed drug. This experience led him to create Every Cure to scale his approach and find new uses for existing medicines for all diseases they can treat.
TIMESTAMPS / CHAPTERS:
(00:00) Introduction to HealthTech Remedy
(01:17) Introducing Every Cure: A Nonprofit Tackling Rare Diseases
(02:01) The Origin Story: Dr. David Fajgenbaum and "Chasing My Cure"
(08:00) Every Cure's Nonprofit Model and Strategic Partnerships
(12:06) An Interview with Dr. David Fajgenbaum: A Personal Journey to a Cure
(14:27) What is Drug Repurposing?
(18:01) Building Every Cure: Structuring a Nonprofit to Fill a Systemic Gap
(22:30) Success Stories: From Leucovorin for Autism to Lidocaine for Breast Cancer
(28:17) The AI Engine: How Technology Powers Drug Rediscovery
(35:17) How to Get Involved and Support Every Cure's Mission
LEARN MORE & GET INVOLVED:
Learn more about Every Cure: https://EveryCure.org/
Share an idea for a repurposed drug: https://EveryCure.org/ideas
Become an expert reviewer: https://EveryCure.org/experts
Support the mission and donate: https://EveryCure.org/donate
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?
What did you find most inspiring about Every Cure's mission? Do you know of any other examples of drug repurposing?
Leave a comment below - we'd love to hear your thoughts! Don't forget to like this video and subscribe for more deep dives into the future of healthcare.
