Advertisements
Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Personalized and Precision Medicine & Genomic Research’ Category

Unwanted DNA deletions by CRISPR gene editing technology

Posted in Biological Engineering, Biological Networks, Gene Regulation and Evolution, Cancer and Current Therapeutics, Cancer Genomics, Cancer Prevention: Research & Programs, Cell Biology, Clinical Genomics, DNA repair, Gene Regulation, Gene Regulation and Evolution, Gene Therapy & Gene Editing Development, Genetics & Innovations in Treatment, Genetics & Pharmaceutical, Genome Biology, Genomic Endocrinology, Genomic Testing: Methodology for Diagnosis, Genomics Pharmacy, Molecular Genetics & Pharmaceutical, mRNA Therapeutics, Personalized and Precision Medicine & Genomic Research, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on July 22, 2018| Leave a Comment »


Reporter and Curator: Dr. Sudipta Saha, Ph.D.

 

Researchers have embraced CRISPR gene-editing as a method for altering genomes, but some have reported that unwanted DNA changes may slip by undetected. The tool can cause large DNA deletions and rearrangements near its target site on the genome. Such alterations can confuse the interpretation of experimental results and could complicate efforts to design therapies based on CRISPR. The finding is in line with previous results from not only CRISPR but also other gene-editing systems.

 

CRISPR -Cas9 gene editing relies on the Cas9 enzyme to cut DNA at a particular target site. The cell then attempts to reseal this break using its DNA repair mechanisms. These mechanisms do not always work perfectly, and sometimes segments of DNA will be deleted or rearranged, or unrelated bits of DNA will become incorporated into the chromosome.

 

Researchers often use CRISPR to generate small deletions in the hope of knocking out a gene’s function. But when examining CRISPR edits, researchers found large deletions (often several thousand nucleotides) and complicated rearrangements of DNA sequences in which previously distant DNA sequences were stitched together. Many researchers use a method for amplifying short snippets of DNA to test whether their edits have been made properly. But this approach might miss larger deletions and rearrangements.

 

These deletions and rearrangements occur only with gene-editing techniques that rely on DNA cutting and not with some other types of CRISPR modifications that avoid cutting DNA. Such as a modified CRISPR system to switch one nucleotide for another without cutting DNA and other systems use inactivated Cas9 fused to other enzymes to turn genes on or off, or to target RNA. Overall, these unwanted edits are a problem that deserves more attention, but this should not stop anyone from using CRISPR. Only when people use it, they need to do a more thorough analysis about the outcome.

 

References:

 

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05736-3?utm_source=briefing-dy

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28561021

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30010673

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24651067

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25398350

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24838573

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25200087

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25757625

 

Advertisements

Read Full Post »

The 14th Annual Personalized Medicine Conference: Shifting Systems: Insights from an Accelerating Global Push Toward Personalized Medicine, November 14, 2018, HMS, Boston

Posted in Conference Coverage with Social Media, Personalized and Precision Medicine & Genomic Research on July 18, 2018| Leave a Comment »


The 14th Annual Personalized Medicine Conference: Shifting Systems: Insights from an Accelerating Global Push Toward Personalized Medicine, November 14, 2018, HMS, Boston

 

PMC Announcement

Shifting Systems: Insights from an Accelerating Global Push Toward Personalized Medicine

November 14, 2018

Joseph B. Martin Conference Center

Harvard Medical School

77 Avenue Louis Pasteur

Boston, MA 02115

 

“[There is] now a collegial global competition to harness the transformative power of [personalized medicine] toward more efficient, effective and economical health care.”

Marc LePage

President, CEO

Genome Canada

Canada Joins Growing Number of Countries Launching National Personalized Medicine Initiatives

Dear Colleague:

In an op-ed describing Canada’s recently

launched personalized medicine

initiative, Marc LePage, President and

CEO of Genome Canada, the government-funded

organization spearheading Canada’s efforts

in the space, argues that countries without a

strategy for implementing personalized

medicine may soon be “left behind”

in the effort to modernize health care.

In an op-ed describing Canada’s recently launched personalized medicine initiative, Marc LePage, President and CEO of Genome Canada, the government-funded organization spearheading Canada’s efforts in the space, argues that countries without a strategy for implementing personalized medicine may soon be “left behind” in the effort to modernize health care.

Personalized medicine, LePage explains, presents an opportunity to reap benefits for patients and society by helping health care providers target treatments to only those patients who will benefit from them. Doing so, he notes, facilitates “more efficient, effective and economical health care.”

LePage’s comments aptly summarize the logic that is also driving an increasing number of other countries to implement national personalized medicine strategies.

In that context, a panel of government representatives from around the world will join us at the 14th Annual Personalized Medicine Conference at Harvard Medical School to discuss the competitive advantages various countries have in personalized medicine and explore the common challenges and notable achievements emerging from government initiatives to advance the field.

During the session, titled “Shifting Systems: Identifying the Common Challenges and Notable Achievements of Government Efforts to Advance Personalized Medicine,” moderator Antonio L. Andreu, M.D., Ph.D., Scientific Director, EATRIS European Infrastructure for Translational Medicine, will lead a discussion also featuring Ora Dar, Ph.D., Senior Expert, National Research & Development Projects, Technological Infrastructure Division, Israel Innovation Authority; Tom Fowler, Ph.D., Deputy Chief Scientist, Genomics England; Marc LePage, President, CEO, Genome Canada; and Liisa-Maria Voipio-Pulkki, M.D., Ph.D., Director General, Chief Medical Officer, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finland.

As a reminder, you can register for the conference today using the link provided above.

Sincerely yours,

Edward Abrahams

President

Personalized Medicine Coalition

 

Shifting Systems: Identifying the Common Challenges and Notable Achievements of Government Efforts to Advance Personalized Medicine

Moderator


Antonio L. Andreu, M.D., Ph.D.

Scientific Director

EATRIS European Infrastructure for Translational Medicine


Panelists


Ora Dar, Ph.D.

Senior Expert, National Research & Development Projects, Technological Infrastructure Division

Israel Innovation Authority


Tom Fowler, Ph.D.

Deputy Chief Scientist

Genomics England
Marc LePage

President, CEO

Genome Canada
Liisa-Maria Voipio-Pulkki, M.D., Ph.D.

Director General, Chief Medical Officer, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health

Finland

SOURCE

From: The 14th Annual Personalized Medicine Conference <messages@app.production.membersuite.com>

Reply-To: “Christopher Wells (PMC)” <cwells@personalizedmedicinecoalition.org>

Date: Wednesday, July 18, 2018 at 10:06 AM

To: Aviva Lev-Ari <AvivaLev-Ari@alum.berkeley.edu>

Subject: Nov. 14: Insights From an Accelerating Global Push Toward Personalized Medicine

Read Full Post »

Live Conference Coverage @Medcitynews Converge 2018 Philadelphia:Liquid Biopsy and Gene Testing vs Reimbursement Hurdles

Posted in Big Data & Analytics, BioBanking, CANCER BIOLOGY & Innovations in Cancer Therapy, Cancer Screening, Circulating Tumor Cells (CTC), Clinical Genomics, Diagnostics and Lab Tests, FDA, Health Economics and Outcomes Research, Healthcare costs and reimbursement, KRAS Mutation, Liquid Biopsy Chip detects an array of metastatic cancer cell markers in blood, Liquid Biopsy: Circulating Tumor Cells in Urine and Blood, Patient-centered Medicine, Personalized and Precision Medicine & Genomic Research, Scientific & Biotech Conferences: Press Coverage, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on July 12, 2018| Leave a Comment »


Live Conference Coverage @Medcitynews Converge 2018 Philadelphia:Liquid Biopsy and Gene Testing vs Reimbursement Hurdles

9:25- 10:15 Liquid Biopsy and Gene Testing vs. Reimbursement Hurdles

Genetic testing, whether broad-scale or single gene-testing, is being ordered by an increasing number of oncologists, but in many cases, patients are left to pay for these expensive tests themselves. How can this dynamic be shifted? What can be learned from the success stories?

Moderator: Shoshannah Roth, Assistant Director of Health Technology Assessment and Information Services , ECRI Institute @Ecri_Institute
Speakers:
Rob Dumanois, Manager – reimbursement strategy, Thermo Fisher Scientific
Eugean Jiwanmall, Senior Research Analyst for Medical Policy & Technology Evaluation , Independence Blue Cross @IBX
Michael Nall, President and Chief Executive Officer, Biocept

 

Michael: Wide range of liquid biopsy services out there.  There are screening companies however they are young and need lots of data to develop pan diagnostic test.  Most of liquid biopsy is more for predictive analysis… especially therapeutic monitoring.  Sometimes solid biopsies are impossible , limited, or not always reliable due to metastasis or tough to biopsy tissues like lung.

Eugean:  Circulating tumor cells and ctDNA is the only FDA approved liquid biopsies.  However you choose then to evaluate the liquid biopsy, PCR NGS, FISH etc, helps determines what the reimbursement options are available.

Rob:  Adoption of reimbursement for liquid biopsy is moving faster in Europe than the US.  It is possible in US that there may be changes to the payment in one to two years though.

Michael:  China is adopting liquid biopsy rapidly.  Patients are demanding this in China.

Reimbursement

Eugean:  For IBX to make better decisions we need more clinical trials to correlate with treatment outcome.  Most of the major cancer networks, like NCCN, ASCO, CAP, just have recommendations and not approved guidelines at this point.  From his perspective with lung cancer NCCN just makes a suggestion with EGFR mutations however only the companion diagnostic is approved by FDA.

Michael:  Fine needle biopsies are usually needed by the pathologist anyway before they go to liquid biopsy as need to know the underlying mutations in the original tumor, it just is how it is done in most cancer centers.

Eugean:  Whatever the established way of doing things, you have to outperform the clinical results of the old method for adoption of a newer method.

Reimbursement issues have driven a need for more research into clinical validity and utility of predictive and therapeutic markers with regard to liquid biopsies.  However although many academic centers try to partner with Biocept Biocept has a limit of funds and must concentrate only on a few trials.  The different payers use different evidence based methods to evaluate liquid biopsy markers.  ECRI also has a database for LB markers using an evidence based criteria.  IBX does sees consistency among payers as far as decision and policy.

NGS in liquid biopsy

Rob: There is a path to coverage, especially through the FDA.  If you have a FDA cleared NGS test, it will be covered.  These are long and difficult paths to reimbursement for NGS but it is feasible. Medicare line of IBX covers this testing, however on the commercial side they can’t cover this.  @IBX: for colon only kras or nras has clinical utility and only a handful of other cancer related genes for other cancers.  For a companion diagnostic built into that Dx do the other markers in the panel cost too much?

Please follow on Twitter using the following #hash tags and @pharma_BI

#MCConverge

#cancertreatment

#healthIT

#innovation

#precisionmedicine

#healthcaremodels

#personalizedmedicine

#healthcaredata

And at the following handles:

@pharma_BI

@medcitynews

Read Full Post »

Live Conference Coverage @Medcity Converge 2018 Philadelphia: Oncology Value Based Care and Patient Management

Posted in Healthcare costs and reimbursement, Healthcare Reform, Medicare and Medicaid, Patents, Patient Experience, Patient-centered Medicine, Prescription Drugs Costs, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 11, 2018| Leave a Comment »


Live Conference Coverage @Medcity Converge 2018 Philadelphia: Oncology Value Based Care and Patient Management

Reporter: Stephen J. Williams, Ph.D.

3:15 – 4:00 PM Breakout: What’s A Good Model for Value-Based Care in Oncology?

How do you implement a value-based care model in oncology? Medicare has created a bundled payment model in oncology and there are lessons to be learned from that and other programs. Listen to two presentations from experts in the field.

Moderator: Mahek Shah, M.D., Senior Researcher, Harvard Business School @Mahek_MD
Speakers:
Charles Saunders M.D., CEO, Integra Connect
Mari Vandenburgh, Director of Value-Based Reimbursement Operations, Highmark @Highmark

 

Mari: Building strategic partnerships with partners focused on population based health and evidence based outcomes. they provide data analytics and consultative services.  Incorporate risk based systems.  also looking at ancillary segments because they see cost savings.  True Performance is their flagship performance program and 11% lower ED (saving $18 million) rates and 16% lower readmissions ($200 million cost savings).  Also launched the Highmark Cancer care Program with Johns Hopkins.  They monitor the adherence pathways and if clinician shows good adherence they give reimbursements.

Charles:  Integra is a cloud based care platform focused on oncology and urology and allow clinicians to practice value based care. Providers must now focus on total cost including ER visits, end of life and therapies (which is half of total cost in US).  The actionable ways to reduce costs is by reducing ER visits.  What is working? Data on reimbursements models is very accurate so practices can dig into data and find effieciencies.  However most practices do not have the analytics to do this.

  • care navigation
  • care path based treatment choices
  • enhanced patient access and experience

What is not working

  • data not structured so someone has to do manual curation of records
  • flawed logic based on plurality of visits but physician doesn’t know who else they saw
  • target pricing not taking into account high prices of new therapies
  • lack of timely reporting either by patient or physician
  • insufficient reimbursements
  • technology limitations

 

4:10- 4:55 Breakout: What Patients Want and Need On Their Journey

Cancer patients are living with an existential threat every day. A panel of patients and experts in oncology care management will discuss what’s needed to make the journey for oncology patients a bit more bearable.

sponsored by CEO Council for Growth

Moderator: Amanda Woodworth, M.D., Director of Breast Health, Drexel University College of Medicine
Speakers:
Kezia Fitzgerald, Chief Innovation Officer & Co-Founder, CareAline® Products, LLC
Sara Hayes, Senior Director of Community Development, Health Union @SaraHayes_HU
Katrece Nolen, Cancer Survivor and Founder, Find Cancer Help @KatreceNolen
John Simpkins, Administrative DirectorService Line Director of the Cancer Center, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia @ChildrensPhila

 

Kezia: was a cancer patient as well as her child getting treated at two different places and tough part was coordinating everything including treatments and schedules, working schedules

Katrece: had problem scheduling with oncologists because misdiagnosis and her imaging records were on CD and surgeon could not use the CD

John:  the above are a common frustration among patients at a time when they don’t need the confusion. He feels cancer centers need to coordinate these services better

Sara:  trying to assist people with this type of coordination is very tough even with all the resources

Kazia:  she needed to do all the research on her own because big dichotomy being an adult and a pediatric patient where pediatrics get more information and patient centered care. She felt she felt burdening the physicians if she asked the same questions.  How can we get more interaction with primary care physicians and feel comfortable with their interaction?

John: there is this dichotomy especially on wait times for adults is usually longer.  We can also improve patient experience with counseling patients

Katrece: Just working with a patient navigator is not enough.  The patient needs to take charge of their disease.

Sara: Patient communities can help as sometimes patients learn from other patients.

Amanda:  in breast cancer , navigators are common but must take care they are not only people patients see after a while

John:  at CHOP they also have a financial navigator.  On the adult side there are on call financial navigators.  Recent change of the high deductible plans are a major problem.  Although new families are starting to become comfortable with the financial navigator

Katrece:  guiding your children through your experience is important.  It was also important for her to advocate for herself as she had three different sites of cancer care to coordinate and multiple teams to coordinate with each other

Amanda:  A common theme seems to be hard trying to find the resources you need.  Why is that?

Kazia:  Sometimes it is hard to talk about your disease because it can be emotionally draining comforting other people who you told about the disease and they are being empathetic.  Sometimes they want to keep their ‘journey’ to themselves

John:  A relative kept her disease secret because she didn’t want to burden others…. a common cancer patient concern

Sara: Moderation of a social group is necessary to keep it a safe space and prevent trollers (like in Facebook support groups).

Kazia:  most group members will get together and force those trollers out of the group

Katrece: alot of anxiety after treatment ends, patient feels like being dropped on the floor like they don’t get support after treatment.  If there were survivorship navigators might be helpful

Amanda: for breast cancer they do a Survivor Care Package but just a paper packet, patients do appreciate it but a human coordinator would be a great idea

 

 

 

 

Please follow on Twitter using the following #hashtags and @pharma_BI

#MCConverge

#cancertreatment

#healthIT

#innovation

#precisionmedicine

#healthcaremodels

#personalizedmedicine

#healthcaredata

And at the following handles:

@pharma_BI

@medcitynews

 

Please see related articles on Live Coverage of Previous Meetings on this Open Access Journal

LIVE – Real Time – 16th Annual Cancer Research Symposium, Koch Institute, Friday, June 16, 9AM – 5PM, Kresge Auditorium, MIT

Real Time Coverage and eProceedings of Presentations on 11/16 – 11/17, 2016, The 12th Annual Personalized Medicine Conference, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL, Joseph B. Martin Conference Center, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston

Tweets Impression Analytics, Re-Tweets, Tweets and Likes by @AVIVA1950 and @pharma_BI for 2018 BioIT, Boston, 5/15 – 5/17, 2018

BIO 2018! June 4-7, 2018 at Boston Convention & Exhibition Center

https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/press-coverage/

 

Read Full Post »

Live Coverage: MedCity Converge 2018 Philadelphia: AI in Cancer and Keynote Address

Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence Applications in Health Care, Big Data, BioIT: BioInformatics, Cancer - General, Cancer and Current Therapeutics, Cancer Informatics, Cancer Vaccines: Targeting Cancer Genes for Immunotherapy, Conference Coverage with Social Media, Health Care System by Country, HealthCare IT, Immuno-Oncology & Genomics, Personalized and Precision Medicine & Genomic Research, tagged , , , , , , on July 11, 2018| Leave a Comment »


 

Live Coverage: MedCity Converge 2018 Philadelphia: AI in Cancer and Keynote Address

Reporter: Stephen J. Williams, PhD

8:30 AM -9:15

Practical Applications of AI in Cancer

We are far from machine learning dictating clinical decision making, but AI has important niche applications in oncology. Hear from a panel of innovative startups and established life science players about how machine learning and AI can transform different aspects in healthcare, be it in patient recruitment, data analysis, drug discovery or care delivery.

Moderator: Ayan Bhattacharya, Advanced Analytics Specialist Leader, Deloitte Consulting LLP
Speakers:
Wout Brusselaers, CEO and Co-Founder, Deep 6 AI @woutbrusselaers ‏
Tufia Haddad, M.D., Chair of Breast Medical Oncology and Department of Oncology Chair of IT, Mayo Clinic
Carla Leibowitz, Head of Corporate Development, Arterys @carlaleibowitz
John Quackenbush, Ph.D., Professor and Director of the Center for Cancer Computational Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Ayan: working at IBM and Thompon Rueters with structured datasets and having gone through his own cancer battle, he is now working in healthcare AI which has an unstructured dataset(s)

Carla: collecting medical images over the world, mainly tumor and calculating tumor volumetrics

Tufia: drug resistant breast cancer clinician but interested in AI and healthcareIT at Mayo

John: taking large scale datasets but a machine learning skeptic

moderator: how has imaging evolved?

Carla: ten times images but not ten times radiologists so stressed field needs help with image analysis; they have seen measuring lung tumor volumetrics as a therapeutic diagnostic has worked

moderator: how has AI affected patient recruitment?

Tufia: majority of patients are receiving great care but AI can offer profiles and determine which patients can benefit from tertiary care;

John: 1980 paper on no free lunch theorem; great enthusiasm about optimization algortihisms fell short in application; can extract great information from e.g. images

moderator: how is AI for healthcare delivery working at mayo?

Tufia: for every hour with patient two hours of data mining. for care delivery hope to use the systems to leverage the cognitive systems to do the data mining

John: problem with irreproducible research which makes a poor dataset:  also these care packages are based on population data not personalized datasets; challenges to AI is moving correlation to causation

Carla: algorithisms from on healthcare network is not good enough, Google tried and it failed

John: curation very important; good annotation is needed; needed to go in and develop, with curators, a systematic way to curate medial records; need standardization and reproducibility; applications in radiometrics can be different based on different data collection machines; developed a machine learning model site where investigators can compare models on a hub; also need to communicate with patients on healthcare information and quality information

Ayan: Australia and Canada has done the most concerning AI and lifescience, healthcare space; AI in most cases is cognitive learning: really two types of companies 1) the Microsofts, Googles, and 2) the startups that may be more pure AI

 

Final Notes: We are at a point where collecting massive amounts of healthcare related data is simple, rapid, and shareable.  However challenges exist in quality of datasets, proper curation and annotation, need for collaboration across all healthcare stakeholders including patients, and dissemination of useful and accurate information

 

9:15 AM–9:45 AM

Opening Keynote: Dr. Joshua Brody, Medical Oncologist, Mount Sinai Health System

The Promise and Hype of Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is revolutionizing oncology care across various types of cancers, but it is also necessary to sort the hype from the reality. In his keynote, Dr. Brody will delve into the history of this new therapy mode and how it has transformed the treatment of lymphoma and other diseases. He will address the hype surrounding it, why so many still don’t respond to the treatment regimen and chart the way forward—one that can lead to more elegant immunotherapy combination paths and better outcomes for patients.

Speaker:
Joshua Brody, M.D., Assistant Professor, Mount Sinai School of Medicine @joshuabrodyMD

Director Lymphoma therapy at Mt. Sinai

  • lymphoma a cancer with high PD-L1 expression
  • hodgkin’s lymphoma best responder to PD1 therapy (nivolumab) but hepatic adverse effects
  • CAR-T (chimeric BCR and TCR); a long process which includes apheresis, selection CD3/CD28 cells; viral transfection of the chimeric; purification
  • complete remissions of B cell lymphomas (NCI trial) and long term remissions past 18 months
  • side effects like cytokine release (has been controlled); encephalopathy (he uses a hand writing test to see progression of adverse effect)

Vaccines

  •  teaching the immune cells as PD1 inhibition exhausting T cells so a vaccine boost could be an adjuvant to PD1 or checkpoint therapy
  • using Flt3L primed in-situ vaccine (using a Toll like receptor agonist can recruit the dendritic cells to the tumor and then activation of T cell response);  therefore vaccine does not need to be produced ex vivo; months after the vaccine the tumor still in remission
  • versus rituximab, which can target many healthy B cells this in-situ vaccine strategy is very specific for the tumorigenic B cells
  • HoWEVER they did see resistant tumor cells which did not overexpress PD-L1 but they did discover a novel checkpoint (cannot be disclosed at this point)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please follow on Twitter using the following #hashtags and @pharma_BI

#MCConverge

#AI

#cancertreatment

#immunotherapy

#healthIT

#innovation

#precisionmedicine

#healthcaremodels

#personalizedmedicine

#healthcaredata

And at the following handles:

@pharma_BI

@medcitynews

 

Please see related articles on Live Coverage of Previous Meetings on this Open Access Journal

LIVE – Real Time – 16th Annual Cancer Research Symposium, Koch Institute, Friday, June 16, 9AM – 5PM, Kresge Auditorium, MIT

Real Time Coverage and eProceedings of Presentations on 11/16 – 11/17, 2016, The 12th Annual Personalized Medicine Conference, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL, Joseph B. Martin Conference Center, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston

Tweets Impression Analytics, Re-Tweets, Tweets and Likes by @AVIVA1950 and @pharma_BI for 2018 BioIT, Boston, 5/15 – 5/17, 2018

BIO 2018! June 4-7, 2018 at Boston Convention & Exhibition Center

https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/press-coverage/

Read Full Post »

Medcity Converge 2018 Philadelphia: Live Coverage @pharma_BI

Posted in Artificial Intelligence Applications in Health Care, BioIT: BioInformatics, BioIT: BioInformatics, NGS, Clinical & Translational, Pharmaceuticall R&D Informatics, Clinical Genomics, Cancer Informatics, CANCER BIOLOGY & Innovations in Cancer Therapy, Cancer Informatics, Cancer Prevention: Research & Programs, Clinical & Translational, Clinical Diagnostics, Evidence-based decision-making, Health Economics and Outcomes Research, Healthcare costs and reimbursement, Personalized and Precision Medicine & Genomic Research, Transformative Technologies in Healthcare, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 11, 2018| Leave a Comment »


Medcity Converge 2018 Philadelphia: Live Coverage @pharma_BI

Stephen J. Williams: Reporter

MedCity CONVERGE is a two-day executive summit that gathers innovative thought leaders from across all healthcare sectors to provide actionable insight on where oncology innovation is heading.

On July 11-12, 2018 in Philadelphia, MedCity CONVERGE will gather technology disruptors, payers, providers, life science companies, venture capitalists and more to discuss how AI, Big Data and Precision Medicine are changing the game in cancer. See agenda.

The conference highlights innovation and best practices across the continuum—from research to technological innovation to transformations of treatment and care delivery, and most importantly, patient empowerment—from some of the country’s most innovative healthcare organizations managing the disease.

Meaningful networking opportunities abound, with executives driving the innovation from diverse entities: leading hospital systems, medical device firms, biotech, pharma, emerging technology startups and health IT, as well as the investment community.

Day 1: Wednesday, July 11, 2018

7:30 AM

2nd Floor – Paris Foyer

Registration + Breakfast

8:15 AM–8:30 AM

Paris Ballroom

Welcome Remarks: Arundhati Parmar, VP and Editor-in-Chief, MedCity News

8:30 AM–9:15 AM

Paris Ballroom

Practical Applications of AI in Cancer

We are far from machine learning dictating clinical decision making, but AI has important niche applications in oncology. Hear from a panel of innovative startups and established life science players about how machine learning and AI can transform different aspects in healthcare, be it in patient recruitment, data analysis, drug discovery or care delivery.

Moderator: Ayan Bhattacharya, Advanced Analytics Specialist Leader, Deloitte Consulting LLP
Speakers:
Wout Brusselaers, CEO and Co-Founder, Deep 6 AI @woutbrusselaers ‏
Tufia Haddad, M.D., Chair of Breast Medical Oncology and Department of Oncology Chair of IT, Mayo Clinic
Carla Leibowitz, Head of Corporate Development, Arterys @carlaleibowitz
John Quackenbush, Ph.D., Professor and Director of the Center for Cancer Computational Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

9:15 AM–9:45 AM

Paris Ballroom

Opening Keynote: Dr. Joshua Brody, Medical Oncologist, Mount Sinai Health System

The Promise and Hype of Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is revolutionizing oncology care across various types of cancers, but it is also necessary to sort the hype from the reality. In his keynote, Dr. Brody will delve into the history of this new therapy mode and how it has transformed the treatment of lymphoma and other diseases. He will address the hype surrounding it, why so many still don’t respond to the treatment regimen and chart the way forward—one that can lead to more elegant immunotherapy combination paths and better outcomes for patients.

Speaker:
Joshua Brody, M.D., Assistant Professor, Mount Sinai School of Medicine @joshuabrodyMD

9:45 AM–10:00 AM

Paris Foyer

Networking Break + Showcase

10:00 AM–10:45 AM

Paris Ballroom

The Davids vs. the Cancer Goliath Part 1

Startups from diagnostics, biopharma, medtech, digital health and emerging tech will have 8 minutes to articulate their visions on how they aim to tame the beast.

Start Time End Time Company
10:00 10:08 Belong.Life
10:09 10:17 Care+Wear
10:18 10:26 OncoPower
10:27 10:35 PolyAurum LLC
10:36 10:44 Seeker Health

Speakers:
Karthik Koduru, MD, Co-Founder and Chief Oncologist, OncoPower
Eliran Malki, Co-Founder and CEO, Belong.Life
Chaitenya Razdan, Co-founder and CEO, Care+Wear @_crazdan
Debra Shipley Travers, President & CEO, PolyAurum LLC @polyaurum
Sandra Shpilberg, Founder and CEO, Seeker Health @sandrashpilberg

10:45 AM–11:00 AM

Paris Foyer

Networking Break + Showcase

11:00 AM–11:45 AM

Montpellier – 3rd Floor

Breakout: Biopharma Gets Its Feet Wet in Digital Health

In the last few years, biotech and pharma companies have been leveraging digital health tools in everything from oncology trials, medication adherence to patient engagement. What are the lessons learned?

Moderator: Anthony Green, Ph.D., Vice President, Technology Commercialization Group, Ben Franklin Technology Partners
Speakers:
Derek Bowen, VP of Business Development & Strategy, Blackfynn, Inc.
Gyan Kapur, Vice President, Activate Venture Partners
Tom Kottler, Co-Founder & CEO, HealthPrize Technologies @HealthPrize

11:00 AM–11:45 AM

Paris Ballroom

Breakout: How to Scale Precision Medicine

The potential for precision medicine is real, but is limited by access to patient datasets. How are government entities, hospitals and startups bringing the promise of precision medicine to the masses of oncology patients

Moderator: Sandeep Burugupalli, Senior Manager, Real World Data Innovation, Pfizer @sandeepburug
Speakers:
Ingo ​Chakravarty, President and CEO, Navican @IngoChakravarty
Eugean Jiwanmall, Senior Research Analyst for Medical Policy & Technology Evaluation , Independence Blue Cross @IBX
Andrew Norden, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Cota @ANordenMD
Ankur Parikh M.D, Medical Director of Precision Medicine, Cancer Treatment Centers of America @CancerCenter

11:50 AM–12:30 PM

Paris Ballroom

Fireside Chat with Michael Pellini, M.D.

Building a Precision Medicine Business from the Ground Up: An Operating and Venture Perspective

Dr. Pellini has spent more than 20 years working on the operating side of four companies, each of which has pushed the boundaries of the standard of care. He will describe his most recent experience at Foundation Medicine, at the forefront of precision medicine, and how that experience can be leveraged on the venture side, where he now evaluates new healthcare technologies.

Speaker:
Michael Pellini, M.D., Managing Partner, Section 32 and Chairman, Foundation Medicine @MichaelPellini

12:30 PM–1:30 PM

Chez Colette Restaurant – Lobby

Lunch Reception

1:30 PM–2:15 PM

Paris Ballroom

Clinical Trials 2.0

The randomized, controlled clinical trial is the gold standard, but it may be time for a new model. How can patient networks and new technology be leveraged to boost clinical trial recruitment and manage clinical trials more efficiently?

Moderator: John Reites, Chief Product Officer, Thread @johnreites
Speakers:
Andrew Chapman M.D., Chief of Cancer Services , Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Michelle Longmire, M.D., Founder, Medable @LongmireMD
Sameek Roychowdhury MD, PhD, Medical Oncologist and Researcher, Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center @OSUCCC_James

2:20 PM–3:00 PM

Paris Ballroom

CONVERGEnce on Steroids: Why Comcast and Independence Blue Cross?

This year has seen a great deal of convergence in health care.  One of the most innovative collaborations announced was that of Cable and Media giant Comcast Corporation and health plan Independence Blue Cross.  This fireside chat will explore what the joint venture is all about, the backstory of how this unlikely partnership came to be, and what it might mean for our industry.

sponsored by Independence Blue Cross

Moderator: Tom Olenzak, Managing Director Strategic Innovation Portfolio, Independence Blue Cross @IBX
Speakers:
Marc Siry, VP, Strategic Development, Comcast
Michael Vennera, SVP, Chief Information Officer, Independence Blue Cross

3:00 PM–3:15 PM

Paris Foyer

Networking Break + Showcase

3:15 PM–4:00 PM

Montpellier – 3rd Floor

Breakout: Charting the Way Forward in Gene and Cell Therapy

There is a boom underway in cell and gene therapies that are being wielded to tackle cancer and other diseases at the cellular level. FDA has approved a few drugs in the space. These innovations raise important questions about patient access, patient safety, and personalized medicine. Hear from interesting startups and experts about the future of gene therapy.

Moderator: Alaric DeArment, Senior Reporter, MedCity News
Speakers:
Amy DuRoss, CEO, Vineti
Andre Goy, M.D., Chairman and Director of John Theurer Cancer Center , Hackensack University Medical Center

3:15 PM–4:00 PM

Paris Ballroom

Breakout: What’s A Good Model for Value-Based Care in Oncology?

How do you implement a value-based care model in oncology? Medicare has created a bundled payment model in oncology and there are lessons to be learned from that and other programs. Listen to two presentations from experts in the field.

Moderator: Mahek Shah, M.D., Senior Researcher, Harvard Business School @Mahek_MD
Speakers:
Charles Saunders M.D., CEO, Integra Connect
Mari Vandenburgh, Director of Value-Based Reimbursement Operations, Highmark @Highmark

4:00 PM–4:10 PM

Paris Foyer

Networking Break + Showcase

4:10 PM–4:55 PM

Montpellier – 3rd Floor

Breakout: Trends in Oncology Investing

A panel of investors interested in therapeutics, diagnostics, digital health and emerging technology will discuss what is hot in cancer investing.

Moderator: Stephanie Baum, Director of Special Projects, MedCity News @StephLBaum
Speakers:
Karen Griffith Gryga, Chief Investment Officer, Dreamit Ventures @karengg 
Stacey Seltzer, Partner, Aisling Capital
David Shaywitz, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Partner, Takeda Ventures

4:10 PM–4:55 PM

Paris Ballroom

Breakout: What Patients Want and Need On Their Journey

Cancer patients are living with an existential threat every day. A panel of patients and experts in oncology care management will discuss what’s needed to make the journey for oncology patients a bit more bearable.

sponsored by CEO Council for Growth

Moderator: Amanda Woodworth, M.D., Director of Breast Health, Drexel University College of Medicine
Speakers:
Kezia Fitzgerald, Chief Innovation Officer & Co-Founder, CareAline® Products, LLC
Sara Hayes, Senior Director of Community Development, Health Union @SaraHayes_HU
Katrece Nolen, Cancer Survivor and Founder, Find Cancer Help @KatreceNolen
John Simpkins, Administrative DirectorService Line Director of the Cancer Center, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

5:00 PM–5:45 PM

Paris Ballroom

Early Diagnosis Through Predictive Biomarkers, NonInvasive Testing

Diagnosing cancer early is often the difference between survival and death. Hear from experts regarding the new and emerging technologies that form the next generation of cancer diagnostics.

Moderator: Heather Rose, Director of Licensing, Thomas Jefferson University
Speakers:
Bonnie Anderson, Chairman and CEO, Veracyte @BonnieAndDx
Kevin Hrusovsky, Founder and Chairman, Powering Precision Health @KevinHrusovsky

5:45 PM–7:00 PM

Paris Foyer

Networking Reception

Day 2: Thursday, July 12, 2018

7:30 AM

Paris Foyer

Breakfast + Registration

8:30 AM–8:40 AM

Paris Ballroom

Opening Remarks: Arundhati Parmar, VP and Editor-in-Chief, MedCity News

8:40 AM–9:25 AM

Paris Ballroom

The Davids vs. the Cancer Goliath Part 2

Startups from diagnostics, biopharma, medtech, digital health and emerging tech will have 8 minutes to articulate their visions on how they aim to tame the beast.

Start Time End Time Company
8:40 8:48 3Derm
8:49 8:57 CNS Pharmaceuticals
8:58 9:06 Cubismi
9:07 9:15 CytoSavvy
9:16 9:24 PotentiaMetrics

Speakers:
Liz Asai, CEO & Co-Founder, 3Derm Systems, Inc. @liz_asai
John M. Climaco, CEO, CNS Pharmaceuticals @cns_pharma 
John Freyhof, CEO, CytoSavvy
Robert Palmer, President & CEO, PotentiaMetrics @robertdpalmer 
Moira Schieke M.D., Founder, Cubismi, Adjunct Assistant Prof UW Madison @cubismi_inc

9:30 AM–10:15 AM

Paris Ballroom

Liquid Biopsy and Gene Testing vs. Reimbursement Hurdles

Genetic testing, whether broad-scale or single gene-testing, is being ordered by an increasing number of oncologists, but in many cases, patients are left to pay for these expensive tests themselves. How can this dynamic be shifted? What can be learned from the success stories?

Moderator: Shoshannah Roth, Assistant Director of Health Technology Assessment and Information Services , ECRI Institute @Ecri_Institute
Speakers:
Rob Dumanois, Manager – reimbursement strategy, Thermo Fisher Scientific
Eugean Jiwanmall, Senior Research Analyst for Medical Policy & Technology Evaluation , Independence Blue Cross @IBX
Michael Nall, President and Chief Executive Officer, Biocept

10:15 AM–10:25 AM

Paris Foyer

Networking Break + Showcase

10:25 AM–11:10 AM

Paris Ballroom

Promising Drugs, Pricing and Access

The drug pricing debate rages on. What are the solutions to continuing to foster research and innovation, while ensuring access and affordability for patients? Can biosimilars and generics be able to expand market access in the U.S.?

Moderator: Bunny Ellerin, Director, Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Management Program, Columbia Business School
Speakers:
Patrick Davish, AVP, Global & US Pricing/Market Access, Merck
Robert Dubois M.D., Chief Science Officer and Executive Vice President, National Pharmaceutical Council
Gary Kurzman, M.D., Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Healthcare, Safeguard Scientifics
Steven Lucio, Associate Vice President, Pharmacy Services, Vizient

11:10 AM–11:20 AM

Networking Break + Showcase

11:20 AM–12:05 PM

Paris Ballroom

Breaking Down Silos in Research

“Silo” is healthcare’s four-letter word. How are researchers, life science companies and others sharing information that can benefit patients more quickly? Hear from experts at institutions that are striving to tear down the walls that prevent data from flowing.

Moderator: Vini Jolly, Executive Director, Woodside Capital Partners
Speakers:
Ardy Arianpour, CEO & Co-Founder, Seqster @seqster
Lauren Becnel, Ph.D., Real World Data Lead for Oncology, Pfizer
Rakesh Mathew, Innovation, Research, & Development Lead, HealthShareExchange
David Nace M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Innovaccer

12:10 PM–12:40 PM

Paris Ballroom

Closing Keynote: Anne Stockwell, Cancer Survivor, Founder, Well Again

Finding Your Well Again
Anne Stockwell discusses her mission to help cancer survivors heal their emotional trauma and regain their balance after treatment. A multi-skilled artist as well as a three-time cancer survivor, Anne learned through experience that the emotional impact of cancer often strikes after treatment, isolating a survivor rather than lighting the way forward. Anne realized that her well-trained imagination as an artist was key to her successful reentry after cancer. Now she helps other survivors develop their own creative tools to help them find their way forward with joy.

Speaker:
Anne Stockwell, Founder and President, Well Again @annewellagain

12:40 PM–12:45 PM

Closing Remarks

 

Please follow on Twitter using the following #hashtags and @pharma_BI

#MCConverge

#cancertreatment

#healthIT

#innovation

#precisionmedicine

#healthcaremodels

#personalizedmedicine

#healthcaredata

And at the following handles:

@pharma_BI

@medcitynews

 

Please see related articles on Live Coverage of Previous Meetings on this Open Access Journal

LIVE – Real Time – 16th Annual Cancer Research Symposium, Koch Institute, Friday, June 16, 9AM – 5PM, Kresge Auditorium, MIT

Real Time Coverage and eProceedings of Presentations on 11/16 – 11/17, 2016, The 12th Annual Personalized Medicine Conference, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL, Joseph B. Martin Conference Center, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston

Tweets Impression Analytics, Re-Tweets, Tweets and Likes by @AVIVA1950 and @pharma_BI for 2018 BioIT, Boston, 5/15 – 5/17, 2018

BIO 2018! June 4-7, 2018 at Boston Convention & Exhibition Center

https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/press-coverage/

 

 

Read Full Post »

New York Times vs. Personalized Medicine? PMC President: Times’ Critique of Streamlined Regulatory Approval for Personalized Treatments ‘Ignores Promising Implications’ of Field

Posted in Personalized and Precision Medicine & Genomic Research, Personalized Medicine Coalition on June 13, 2018| 1 Comment »


Contact: Christopher J. Wells

Personalized Medicine Coalition

cwells@personalizedmedicinecoalition.org

202-589-1770

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

New York Times vs. Personalized Medicine?

PMC President: Times’ Critique of Streamlined Regulatory Approval for Personalized Treatments ‘Ignores Promising Implications’ of Field

WASHINGTON (June 13, 2018) — In response to an editorial published on June 9 by the New York Times titled “Easier Drug Approval, at What Price?,” Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC) President Edward Abrahams today defends a series of decisions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the last several years that have streamlined the regulatory review process for personalized medicines.

“Unlike FDA, which has been an engine for innovation under the direction of Scott Gottlieb and his predecessors, ‘Easier Drug Approval, at What Price?’ ignores the promising implications of reforms in regulatory science that FDA has put in place to facilitate a new appreciation of how different individuals respond to selected treatments,” Abrahams said.

As PMC underlined earlier this year in a report titled Personalized Medicine at FDA: 2017 Progress Report, personalized medicines now account for one of every four drugs the agency approves. The Times’ editorial, which was also published online under the headline “Easier Drug Approval Isn’t Cutting Drug Prices,” contends that “it’s not clear that people, as opposed to drug companies, are feeling much benefit” from the streamlined regulatory review pathways that bring personalized treatments to market faster.

Abrahams disagrees, noting that in non-small cell lung cancer, for example, a disease that was nearly untreatable 20 years ago, there are now multiple drugs on the market that target a patient’s particular tumor. As indicated by the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI), these treatments “improve the survival of subsets of patients with metastatic disease.”

Furthermore, because targeted therapies zero in on specific cancerous mutations, doctors can use diagnostic tests to identify with much greater certainty the patients who will likely benefit from them, sparing expenses and side effects for those will not. That logic underpins FDA’s decision to streamline its regulatory processes, to ensure that patients who will benefit from promising targeted therapies — many of whom have few remaining options — can access those treatments without unnecessary delay.

“By putting in place smarter policies to encourage the efficient development of personalized drugs whose safety and efficacy profiles are often higher than one-size-fits-all, trial-and-error treatments, FDA serves the interests not only of patients but also the health system, which spends too much money on ineffective treatments,” Abrahams said.

To evaluate the American public’s interest in personalized medicine, PMC and GenomeWeb recently commissioned Public Perspectives on Personalized Medicine: A Survey of U.S. Public Opinion, which was published in May. Two-thirds of Americans indicated in the survey that they appreciate personalized medicine’s potential, and the majority expressed concerns about whether they will have access to personalized tests and treatments in the future.

###

About the Personalized Medicine Coalition:
The Personalized Medicine Coalition, representing innovators, scientists, patients, providers and payers, promotes the understanding and adoption of personalized medicine concepts, services and products to benefit patients and the health system. For more information, please visit www.personalizedmedicinecoalition.org.

SOURCE

From: “Christopher Wells (PMC)” <cwells@personalizedmedicinecoalition.org>

Date: Wednesday, June 13, 2018 at 3:15 PM

To: Aviva Lev-Ari <AvivaLev-Ari@alum.berkeley.edu>

Subject: Re: New York Times vs. Personalized Medicine?

 

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »