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Bioinformatics Tool Review: Genome Variant Analysis Tools, Volume 2 (Volume Two: Latest in Genomics Methodologies for Therapeutics: Gene Editing, NGS and BioInformatics, Simulations and the Genome Ontology), Part 1: Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)

Bioinformatics Tool Review: Genome Variant Analysis Tools

Curator: Stephen J. Williams, Ph.D.

Updated 02/07/2021

Updated 11/15/2018

The following post will be an ongoing curation of reviews of gene variant bioinformatic software.

The Ensembl Variant Effect Predictor.

McLaren W, Gil L, Hunt SE, Riat HS, Ritchie GR, Thormann A, Flicek P, Cunningham F.

Genome Biol. 2016 Jun 6;17(1):122. doi: 10.1186/s13059-016-0974-4.

Author information

1

European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SD, UK. wm2@ebi.ac.uk.

2

European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SD, UK.

3

European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SD, UK. fiona@ebi.ac.uk.

Abstract

The Ensembl Variant Effect Predictor is a powerful toolset for the analysis, annotation, and prioritization of genomic variants in coding and non-coding regions. It provides access to an extensive collection of genomic annotation, with a variety of interfaces to suit different requirements, and simple options for configuring and extending analysis. It is open source, free to use, and supports full reproducibility of results. The Ensembl Variant Effect Predictor can simplify and accelerate variant interpretation in a wide range of study designs.

Rare diseases can be difficult to diagnose due to low incidence and incomplete penetrance of implicated alleles however variant analysis of whole genome sequencing can identify underlying genetic events responsible for the disease (Nature, 2015).  However, a large cohort is required for many WGS association studies in order to produce enough statistical power for interpretation (see post and here).  To this effect major sequencing projects have been initiated worldwide including:

A more thorough curation of sequencing projects can be seen in the following post:

Icelandic Population Genomic Study Results by deCODE Genetics come to Fruition: Curation of Current genomic studies

And although sequencing costs have dramatically been reduced over the years, the costs to determine the functional consequences of such variants remains high, as thorough basic research studies must be conducted to validate the interpretation of variant data with respect to the underlying disease, as only a small fraction of variants from a genome sequencing project will encode for a functional protein.  Correct annotation of sequences and variants, identification of correct corresponding reference genes or transcripts in GENCODE or RefSeq respectively offer compelling challenges to the proper identification of sequenced variants as potential functional variants.

To this effect, the authors developed the Ensembl Variant Effect Predictor (VEP), which is a software suite that performs annotations and analysis of most types of genomic variation in coding and non-coding regions of the genome.

Summary of Features

  • Annotation: VEP can annotate two broad categories of genomic variants
    • Sequence variants with specific and defined changes: indels, base substitutions, SNVs, tandem repeats
    • Larger structural variants > 50 nucleotides
  • Species and assembly/genomic database support: VEP can analyze data from any species with assembled genome sequence and annotated gene set. VEP supports chromosome assemblies such as the latest GRCh38, FASTA, as well as transcripts from RefSeq as well as user-derived sequences
  • Transcript Annotation: VEP includes a wide variety of gene and transcript related information including NCBI Gene ID, Gene Symbol, Transcript ID, NCBI RefSeq ID, exon/intron information, and cross reference to other databases such as UniProt
  • Protein Annotation: Protein-related fields include Protein ID, RefSeq ID, SwissProt, UniParc ID, reference codons and amino acids, SIFT pathogenicity score, protein domains
  • Noncoding Annotation: VEP reports variants in noncoding regions including genomic regulatory regions, intronic regions, transcription binding motifs. Data from ENCODE, BLUEPRINT, and NIH Epigenetics RoadMap are used for primary annotation.  Plugins to the Perl coding are also available to link other databases which annotate noncoding sequence features.
  • Frequency, phenotype, and citation annotation: VEP searches Ensembl databases containing a large amount of germline variant information and checks variants against the dbSNP single nucleotide polymorphism database. VEP integrates with mutational databases such as COSMIC, the Human Gene Mutation Database, and structural and copy number variants from Database of Genomic Variants.  Allele Frequencies are reported from 1000 Genomes and NHLBI and integrates with PubMed for literature annotation.  Phenotype information is from OMIM, Orphanet, GWAS and clinical information of variants from ClinVar.
  • Flexible Input and Output Formats: VEP supports input data format called “variant call format” or VCP, a standard in next-gen sequencing. VEP has the ability to process variant identifiers from other database formats.  Output formats are tab deliminated and give the user choices in presentation of results (HTML or text based)
  • Choice of user interface
    • Online tool (VEP Web): simple point and click; incorporates Instant VEP Functionality and copy and paste features. Results can be stored online in cloud storage on Ensembl.
    • VEP script: VEP is available as a downloadable PERL script (see below for link) and can process large amounts of data rapidly. This interface is powerfully flexible with the ability to integrate multiple plugins available from Ensembl and GitHub.  The ability to alter the PERL code and add plugins and code functions allows the flexibility to modify any feature of VEP.
    • VEP REST API: provides robust computational access to any programming language and returns basic variant annotation. Can make use of external plugins.

 

Watch Video on VES Instructional Webinar: https://youtu.be/7Fs7MHfXjWk

Watch Video on VES Web Version training on How to Analyze Your Sequence in VEP

Availability of data and materials

The dataset supporting the conclusions of this article is available from Illumina’s Platinum Genomes [93] and using the Ensembl release 75 gene set. Pre-built data sets are available for all Ensembl and Ensembl Genomes species [94]. They can also be downloaded automatically during set up whilst installing the VEP.

References

Large-scale discovery of novel genetic causes of developmental disorders.

Deciphering Developmental Disorders Study.

Nature2015 Mar 12;519(7542):223-8. doi: 10.1038/nature14135. PMID:25533962

Updated 11/15/2018

Research Points to Caution in Use of Variant Effect Prediction Bioinformatic Tools

Although we have the ability to use high throughput sequencing to identify allelic variants occurring in rare disease, correlation of these variants with the underlying disease is often difficult due to a few concerns:

  • For rare sporadic diseases, classical gene/variant association studies have proven difficult to perform (Meyts et al. 2016)
  • As Whole Exome Sequencing (WES) returns a considerable number of variants, how to differentiate the normal allelic variation found in the human population from disease-causing pathogenic alleles
  • For rare diseases, pathogenic allele frequencies are generally low

Therefore, for these rare pathogenic alleles, the use of bioinformatics tools in order to predict the resulting changes in gene function may provide insight into disease etiology when validation of these allelic changes might be experimentally difficult.

In a 2017 Genes & Immunity paper, Line Lykke Andersen and Rune Hartmann tested the reliability of various bioinformatic software to predict the functional consequence of variants of six different genes involved in interferon induction and sixteen allelic variants of the IFNLR1 gene.  These variants were found in cohorts of patients presenting with herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE). Most of the adult population is seropositive for Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) however a minor fraction (1 in 250,000 individuals per year) of HSV infected individuals will develop HSE (Hjalmarsson et al., 2007).  It has been suggested that HSE occurs in individuals with rare primary immunodeficiencies caused by gene defects affecting innate immunity through reduced production of interferons (IFN) (Zhang et al., Lim et al.).

References

Meyts I, Bosch B, Bolze A, Boisson B, Itan Y, Belkadi A, et al. Exome and genome sequencing for inborn errors of immunity. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2016;138:957–69.

Hjalmarsson A, Blomqvist P, Skoldenberg B. Herpes simplex encephalitis in Sweden, 1990-2001: incidence, morbidity, and mortality. Clin Infect Dis. 2007;45:875–80.

Zhang SY, Jouanguy E, Ugolini S, Smahi A, Elain G, Romero P, et al. TLR3 deficiency in patients with herpes simplex encephalitis. Science. 2007;317:1522–7.

Lim HK, Seppanen M, Hautala T, Ciancanelli MJ, Itan Y, Lafaille FG, et al. TLR3 deficiency in herpes simplex encephalitis: high allelic heterogeneity and recurrence risk. Neurology. 2014;83:1888–97.

Genes Immun. 2017 Dec 4. doi: 10.1038/s41435-017-0002-z.

Frequently used bioinformatics tools overestimate the damaging effect of allelic variants.

Andersen LL1Terczyńska-Dyla E1Mørk N2Scavenius C1Enghild JJ1Höning K3Hornung V3,4Christiansen M5,6Mogensen TH2,6Hartmann R7.

Abstract

We selected two sets of naturally occurring human missense allelic variants within innate immune genes. The first set represented eleven non-synonymous variants in six different genes involved in interferon (IFN) induction, present in a cohort of patients suffering from herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) and the second set represented sixteen allelic variants of the IFNLR1 gene. We recreated the variants in vitro and tested their effect on protein function in a HEK293T cell based assay. We then used an array of 14 available bioinformatics tools to predict the effect of these variants upon protein function. To our surprise two of the most commonly used tools, CADD and SIFT, produced a high rate of false positives, whereas SNPs&GO exhibited the lowest rate of false positives in our test. As the problem in our test in general was false positive variants, inclusion of mutation significance cutoff (MSC) did not improve accuracy.

Methodology

  1. Identification of rare variants
  2. Genomes of nineteen Dutch patients with a history of HSE sequenced by WES and identification of novel HSE causing variants determined by filtering the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that had a frequency below 1% in the NHBLI Exome Sequencing Project Exome Variant Server and the 1000 Genomes Project and were present within 204 genes involved in the immune response to HSV.
  3. Identified variants (204) manually evaluated for involvement of IFN induction based on IDBase and KEGG pathway database analysis.
  4. In-silico predictions: Variants classified by the in silico variant pathogenicity prediction programs: SIFT, Mutation Assessor, FATHMM, PROVEAN, SNAP2, PolyPhen2, PhD-SNP, SNP&GO, FATHMM-MKL, MutationTaster2, PredictSNP, Condel, MetaSNP, and CADD. Each program returned prediction scores measuring likelihood of a variant either being ‘deleterious’ or ‘neutral’. Prediction accuracy measured as

ACC = (true positive+true negative)/(true positive+true negative+false positive+false negative)

  1. Validation of prediction software/tools

In order to validate the predictive value of the software, HEK293T cells, deficient in IRF3, MAVS, and IKKe/TBK1, were cotransfected with the nine variants of the aforementioned genes and a luciferase reporter under control of the IFN-b promoter and luciferase activity measured as an indicator of IFN signaling function.  Western blot was performed to confirm the expression of the constructs.

Results

Table 2 Summary of the
bioinformatic predictions
HSE variants IFNLR1 variants Overall ACC
TN TP FN FP Total ACC TN TP FN FP Total ACC
Uniform cutoff
SIFT 4 1 0 4 9 0.56 8 1 0 7 16 0.56 0.56
Mutation assessor 6 1 0 2 9 0.78 9 1 0 6 16 0.63 0.68
FATHMM 7 1 0 1 9 0.89 0.89
PROVEAN 8 1 0 0 9 1.00 11 1 0 4 16 0.75 0.84
SNAP2 5 1 0 3 9 0.67 8 0 1 7 16 0.50 0.56
PolyPhen2 6 1 0 2 9 0.78 12 1 0 3 16 0.81 0.80
PhD-SNP 7 1 0 1 9 0.89 11 1 0 4 16 0.75 0.80
SNPs&GO 8 1 0 0 9 1.00 14 1 0 1 16 0.94 0.96
FATHMM MKL 4 1 0 4 9 0.56 13 0 1 2 16 0.81 0.72
MutationTaster2 4 0 1 4 9 0.44 14 0 1 1 16 0.88 0.72
PredictSNP 6 1 0 2 9 0.78 11 1 0 4 16 0.75 0.76
Condel 6 1 0 2 9 0.78 0.78
Meta-SNP 8 1 0 0 9 1.00 11 1 0 4 16 0.75 0.84
CADD 2 1 0 6 9 0.33 8 0 1 7 16 0.50 0.44
MSC 95% cutoff
SIFT 5 1 0 3 9 0.67 8 1 0 8 16 0.50 0.56
PolyPhen2 6 1 0 2 9 0.78 13 1 0 3 16 0.81 0.80
CADD 4 1 0 4 9 0.56 7 0 1 9 16 0.44 0.48

Note: TN: true negative, TP: true positive, FN: false negative, FP: false positive, ACC: accuracy

Functional testing (data obtained from reporter construct experiments) were considered as the correct outcome.

Three prediction tools (PROVEAN, SNP&GO, and MetaSNP correctly predicted the effect of all nine variants tested.

Updated 02/07/2021

InMeRF: prediction of pathogenicity of missense variants by individual modeling for each amino acid substitution
Jun-Ichi Takeda Kentaro Nanatsue Ryosuke Yamagishi Mikako Ito Nobuhiko Haga 2Hiromi Hirata Tomoo Ogi Kinji Ohno in NAR Genomics and  Bioinformatics. 2020 May 26;2(2):lqaa038.doi: 10.1093/nargab/lqaa038. eCollection 2020 Jun.

Abstract

In predicting the pathogenicity of a nonsynonymous single-nucleotide variant (nsSNV), a radical change in amino acid properties is prone to be classified as being pathogenic. However, not all such nsSNVs are associated with human diseases. We generated random forest (RF) models individually for each amino acid substitution to differentiate pathogenic nsSNVs in the Human Gene Mutation Database and common nsSNVs in dbSNP. We named a set of our models ‘Individual Meta RF’ (InMeRF). Ten-fold cross-validation of InMeRF showed that the areas under the curves (AUCs) of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and precision-recall curves were on average 0.941 and 0.957, respectively. To compare InMeRF with seven other tools, the eight tools were generated using the same training dataset, and were compared using the same three testing datasets. ROC-AUCs of InMeRF were ranked first in the eight tools. We applied InMeRF to 155 pathogenic and 125 common nsSNVs in seven major genes causing congenital myasthenic syndromes, as well as in VANGL1 causing spina bifida, and found that the sensitivity and specificity of InMeRF were 0.942 and 0.848, respectively. We made the InMeRF web service, and also made genome-wide InMeRF scores available online (https://www.med.nagoya-u.ac.jp/neurogenetics/InMeRF/).

Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33543123/

ADDRESS: A database of disease-associated human variants incorporating protein structure and folding stabilities
Jaie Woodard Chengxin Zhang Yang Zhang in J Mol Biol. 2021 Feb 1;166840. doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2021.166840.

Abstract

Numerous human diseases are caused by mutations in genomic sequences. Since amino acid changes affect protein function through mechanisms often predictable from protein structure, the integration of structural and sequence data enables us to estimate with greater accuracy whether and how a given mutation will lead to disease. Publicly available annotated databases enable hypothesis assessment and benchmarking of prediction tools. However, the results are often presented as summary statistics or black box predictors, without providing full descriptive information. We developed a new semi-manually curated human variant database presenting information on the protein contact-map, sequence-to-structure mapping, amino acid identity change, and stability prediction for the popular UniProt database. We found that the profiles of pathogenic and benign missense polymorphisms can be effectively deduced using decision trees and comparative analyses based on the presented dataset. The database is made publicly available through https://zhanglab.ccmb.med.umich.edu/ADDRESS.

Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33539887/

PopDel identifies medium-size deletions simultaneously in tens of thousands of genomes

Abstract

Thousands of genomic structural variants (SVs) segregate in the human population and can impact phenotypic traits and diseases. Their identification in whole-genome sequence data of large cohorts is a major computational challenge. Most current approaches identify SVs in single genomes and afterwards merge the identified variants into a joint call set across many genomes. We describe the approach PopDel, which directly identifies deletions of about 500 to at least 10,000 bp in length in data of many genomes jointly, eliminating the need for subsequent variant merging. PopDel scales to tens of thousands of genomes as we demonstrate in evaluations on up to 49,962 genomes. We show that PopDel reliably reports common, rare and de novo deletions. On genomes with available high-confidence reference call sets PopDel shows excellent recall and precision. Genotype inheritance patterns in up to 6794 trios indicate that genotypes predicted by PopDel are more reliable than those of previous SV callers. Furthermore, PopDel’s running time is competitive with the fastest tested previous tools. The demonstrated scalability and accuracy of PopDel enables routine scans for deletions in large-scale sequencing studies.

Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33526789/

Other articles related to Genomics and Bioinformatics on this online Open Access Journal Include:

Finding the Genetic Links in Common Disease: Caveats of Whole Genome Sequencing Studies

Large-scale sequencing does not support the idea that lower-frequency variants have a major role in predisposition to type 2 diabetes

US Personalized Cancer Genome Sequencing Market Outlook 2018 –

Icelandic Population Genomic Study Results by deCODE Genetics come to Fruition: Curation of Current genomic studies

Read Full Post »

LIVE 2018 The 21st Gabay Award to LORENZ STUDER, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, contributions in stem cell biology and patient-specific, cell-based therapy

REAL TIME Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

AWARD LECTURE

Tue., Oct. 9, 2018
4:00 PM
Shapiro Campus Center Theater
Brandeis University

CURRENT WINNER

lorenzstuder.jpgLORENZ STUDER

MACARTHUR FELLOWS PROGRAM

Lorenz Studer

Stem Cell Biologist | Class of 2015

Pioneering a new method for large-scale generation of dopaminergic neurons that could provide one of the first treatments for Parkinson’s disease and prove the broader feasibility of stem cell–based therapies for other neurological disorders.

https://www.macfound.org/fellows/947/

118 publications on PubMed

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=LORENZ+STUDER

 

PRESIDING

Dagmar Ringe Professor of Biochemistry, Chemistry and Rosenstiel Basic Medical Sciences Research Center

WELCOME

Lisa Lynch Provost and Maurice B. Hexter Professor of Social and Economic Policy Brandeis University

 

RESPONSE Lorenz Studer, MD Director, Center for Stem Cell Biology Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Member, Developmental Biology Program Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Fully defined protocol for all ectodermal lineage

  • Nervous system: Forebrain, Midbrain, Spinal cord:
  • CNS lineage to PNS Lineage
  • Excitatory cortical neurons
  • cortical interneurons Astrocytes
  • microglia
  • Age-reset disease – late-onset during reprogramming – Is age reversible?
  • Loss of age-related markers
  • iPSC-derived cells yield stage cell upon differentiation
  • In vitro differentiation techniques: 2D Directed Differentiation 3D- Organoids
  • Graded MORPHOGEN SIGNALING
  • DOXYCYLINE: ISHH-ORGANIZER – 5 discrete forebrain regions
  • Building Human brain cells in 2D and in 3D
  • Organized cells –>>>  directed organoids –>> Organized Organoids
  • Parkinson, 1817 – Essay on Shaky Palsy (Niagrostaterial pathway)
  • Genetics and related dysfunction: affecting PD
  • Charckot, 1889
  • PD – new approach following drugs and deep brain stimulation failure in advanced disease: Fetal tissue transplant trials: Fetal Grafting
  • graft-induced dyskinesia
  • Long term, 15 years positive effects
  • Stem-cell-based regenerative therapy could transform PD therapy
  • 1995  Fetal DA neuron grafting for PD in Switzerland
  • 1998 – midbrain stem cell derived DA neuron
  • 200-2003 – Stem cell in brain implantation in WashDC
  • 2011 – Behavioral assays that are restored in mice
  • Optogenetics: manipulating – Light on the brain – control animal’s neurons
  • MOA of Graft function
  • Dopamine neurons – Stratium area of the human brain
  • From bench to bedside – WNT boost enhances EN1 expression
  • Neuron melanin induction
  • Manufacturing and QA testing: GMP – Off the shelf Allogenic Product
  • 1,000 human dose equivalents
  • cryopreserve
  • MSK-DA01 is highly enriched for mDA neuron precursors without detectable hESC Contaminants
  • FDA feedback and final steps to IND – PRE-IND MEETING: 2014, 2016
  • GLP STUDIES:
  • TUMORIGENICITY, BIODISTRIBUTION AND TOXISITY
  • HISTOLOGY OF FINAL PRODUCT
  • CLINICAL TRIAL DESIGN – STEM-PD – MSK and Weill Cornell Medicine
  • HLA expression is absent in edited iPSC with expression of HLA-E to block NK clearance
  • FUTURE: CRISPR
  • ATLaS-PD – assessing the longitudinal Symptoms/signs to moderate of severe stage
  • Development of a new PD therapy from Pluripotent Stem Cells
  • BlueRock Therapeutics – MSK-PD – Start up – $240Million funding
  • Stem cell based dopamine therapy for PD
  • Immunosuppression for 12 months
  • defined levodopa response > 45% improvement
  • Conclusions
  • Cell banks for clinical trials
  • NY state Stem cell science consortia

http://www.brandeis.edu/rosenstiel/images/pdfs/gabbay21program.pdf

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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

 

Read Full Post »

LIVE eProceedings Day One – The 14th Annual Personalized Medicine Conference: PREPARING FOR THE NEW POSSIBLE,

November 14, 2018, HMS, Boston

 

Real Time Press Coverage: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

 

#PMConf

@pharma_BI

@AVIVA1950

 

PART I

The Infrastructure for Innovation

We need to make the transition to a predict, prevent and protect health system.

 JOSHUA OFMAN, M.D., M.S.H.S.
Senior Vice President, Global Value, Access and Policy, Amgen

Keynote Speakers

David King, J.D.

Chairman, CEO

LabCorp

Elizabeth Nabel, M.D.

President

Brigham and Women’s Hospital

  • Health IT at Partners and Mayo Clinic is the largest investment at comparable levels  – Digital Health: Payers, patient engagement
  • is $233Billion projected for 2020
  • AI & Machine Learning, partnership with GE –
  • Response to normal dose, automate disease prediction, treatment pathways, clinical trial eligibility assessment, prophylaxis plans, diagnosis and medical imaging
  • 4 TRENDS in Academic Medicine:
  1. Consolidation of Health Systems in MA – efficiency of large care (EMR), increasing market care in relations with suppliers
  2. Outcomes of consolidations: reduced readmissions, collaborations MGH and BWH – 1.7 Billion of sponsored research, 17Billion assets under investment 3700 faculty appointed at HMS 452 research and clinical departments – Spaulding, MEEI, McLean
  3. Infrastructure for innovations: PARTNERS Healthcare Innovations: Patient Engagement & Education  – PM Opportunities
  4. AllofUs – precision Initiative
  5. BIOBANK – Partners Health
  6. Providers – Payer: Why Work together? 7% fee paid to BlueCross BlueShield to administer claims. – New company acquired to handle claims and save 7% paid to BC/BS – recovery ALWAYS HealthCare – marketed
  7. Retail Pharmacy – CVS Health – Aetna, OPTUM DeVita
  8. FUTURE partnerships: Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan
  9. PATIENTS CHOICES are promoted while drug prices in the US is highest in the World
  10. Medicare Part D – accepts price does not compete
  11. Partners subsidize Genomics-based therapy [Millenial Physician-Scientists pushing ML and Genomics], mental health and primary care
Daniel O’Day

CEO

Roche Pharmaceuticals

 

7:00 a.m.
Registration and Continental Breakfast

Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School
77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA 02115

8:00 a.m.
Opening Remarks

SPEAKER | Edward Abrahams, Ph.D., President, Personalized Medicine Coalition

  • Evidence-based to interact with providers
  • Future of Health care: Infrastructure of innovations, technologies and business aspects for efficient Health care delivery
  • Strategies to stimulate Personalized Medicicne
  • DIagnostics regulations for patient protection
  • cost of drugs, therapy costs 7 figures
  • clinical trial design
  • Prevention of illness
  • clinical and economic utilities of genome sequences
  • moving health care to a better future
  • Advisory committee contributed vastly in topic selection for the agenda for the two days conference
  • Sponsores Intermountain Genomics
8:10 a.m.
Setting the Stage: Exploring the Promise of Personalized Medicine — A Keynote Address

SPEAKER | Elizabeth Nabel, M.D., President, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

8:55 a.m.
Shifting Systems: Identifying the Common Challenges and Notable Achievements of Government Efforts to Advance Personalized Medicine

Government executives have an enormous influence over the direction of health systems and can therefore play a role in developing personalized medicine — but they need to know what works and what doesn’t if their respective efforts to promote personalized medicine are going to succeed. With that in mind, government representatives from around the globe will discuss the competitive advantages various countries have in personalized medicine and explore the common challenges and notable achievements of government initiatives to advance the field during this panel discussion.

MODERATOR Antonio L. Andreu, M.D., Ph.D., Scientific Director, EATRIS European Infrastructure for Translational Medicine, Amsterdam

  • General Medicine: Metabolomics, biological systems vs GENOMICS
  • Medical care – due to genomic testing, MDs will call to tell patients bad news

Ora Dar, Ph.D., Senior Expert, Medical Sciences, consultant to the Israel Innovation Authority

  • $300Miliion  R&D sponsored clinical data on genomics, MDs are trained to place genomics data on EMR, epidemiology, sequencing of genetic diseases
  • Genetic testing early implementation in Israel due to marriage of 3rd degree of kin,
  • Private insurance vs Public Insurance for genomic testing, Healthcare Basket coverage of genomics is not complete
  • 2nd largest HMO collect data from Patients arriving to their Annual Exam will be genomically sequenced = Healthy and ill Patients – data gathered

Tom Fowler, Ph.D., Deputy Chief Scientist, Genomics England

  • Building infrastructure, education, future, National approach to genomic testing, built in a National lab, scaling research
  • three areas: Technical Operations, samples from Urban Hospitals to rural areas, population Health and Population system, Patients need to be brought about, do they want genomic testing?
  • rapid change in knowledge been flexible for genomic testing
  • Fooled not to come on board for Genomics in Medicine
  • Stories of patients that had success with Genomic-based therapy

Marc LePage, President, CEO, Genome Canada

  • Social impact, adoption systems for focusing on rare diseases, following UK and US trends, 10 sites in Canada, aggregate the date at the National level, extract clinical data securely implementation and expertise needs transfer for having it in each hospital
  • better health care at a lower cost can be achieved if genomics will become part of the equation – Open science
  • Optimism and hope

Liisa-Maria Voipio-Pulkki, M.D., Ph.D., Director General, Chief Medical Officer, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finland

  • Public sector is the majority of Health care systems, Expertise is as high as can be, entrepreneurship is on the rise in search for opportunities
  • Brought to Parliament decision on funding a Center for Genomics Research as an independent institute for experimental therapies
  • Barrier in Health Care system National Screening and communication with other parts of the Health Care system
  • TRUST: validation of algorithms, insurance disclosure, ethics of AI,
  • Train new generation of CLinical Trial
  • Evaluation of Health care systems – new methods are needed for that task
  • pharmacogenomics – recommended for the Health system, ICU cost is very high will not change due to evidence from a genomic test which is preventative in nature 
10:10 a.m.
Networking Break

Light refreshments provided.

10:40 a.m.
Evaluating Patients’ Priorities: Understanding Perspectives on Personalized Medicine — A Fireside Chat

MODERATOR | Susan McClure, Founder, Publisher, Genome magazine; Board Member, Personalized Medicine Coalition

Emily Kramer-Golinkoff, Co-Founder, Emily’s Entourage, cystic fibrosis patient

  • Better advocate for a Patient is the Patient him/herself

Bryce Olson, Global Marketing Director, Health and Life Sciences Group, Intel Corporation; stage IV prostate cancer patient

  • Patient engage in their care, involvement in interpretation og ONES OWN Genome sequence is ate most engaging
11:10 a.m.
Automating Actionable: How Artificial Intelligence May Chart a Course for Personalized Medicine

Artificial intelligence may help inform personalized medicine in the future by perceiving which genes, proteins and other biological characteristics contribute to human disease. During this session, a diverse panel will discuss how artificial intelligence may accelerate drug development, improve clinical decision support and drive patient outcomes — and what that might mean for the future of health care.

MODERATOR | Colin Hill, Chairman, CEO, Co-Founder, GNS Healthcare

  • Data, right data
  • Investment is it in data acquisition or in AI
  • AI is not taking over, data is critical
  • Predictionds for 2025

Tom Miller, Managing Partner, GreyBird Ventures LLC

  • algorithms are behind the firewall of the Hospital, for privacy. the patient’s identity is not of central point, privacy is the key
  • Meta ontologies –  not ready yet
  • Validation of AI algorithms
  • India shortage of Radiologists
  • China is a huge market – AI will do functions of MDs
  • Oncology will lead the way in innovations

Gregg Talbert, Ph.D., Global Head of Digital and Personalized Health Care Partnering, Roche

  • AI applied to capture unusual movement allowing to detect a forthcoming neurological event.
  • Data is enough to get started on mutations
  • Data falls short on Patient follow up (longitudinal data on Patients) curation of EMR IS NOT AN EASY OR AUTOMATED PROCESS, IMAGING SPACE: CURATION OF IMAGES is quite a problem,
  • lack of productivity in the Healthcare system: records on transfer of patient to hospitals
  • Clinical Trial data for drug approval, also for future use of the analyzed data
  • In developing markets – solutions needs to be not a replication of the Western World medicine
  • Prediction: Data problem will be resolved in some areas, drugs developed by synthethic biologytaget to diseases drugs developed by AI
  • Patients will drive processes in Healthcare
  • Roche participates in data sharing and transfer protocols

Darrell M. West, Ph.D., Vice President of Governance Studies and Director of Center for Technology Innovation, Douglas Dillon Chair in Governance Studies, The Brookings Institution

  • Interest in AI and in particular: Health care large part of the economy Technologies:
  • Radiology: SW used in detection of disease
  • Personalized Medicine and AI
  • Data mining of Text using AI
  • Vital signs monitoring – providers can spot Arrhythmias earlier
  • Data centers have rich data , data analysis is important in Financial institutions for upselling instruments. In healthcare there is room as well
  • Future of Work book authored by Dr. West – augmentation of skills not replacement of
  • NY, Cold Spring: Local vs National, local progressive regulation is worrisome, pattern will migrate from NY to MA, to CA, OR, WA.
  • Mobile technology in Africa is advance: Global money, smart phones
  • 2015: AI will transform other technologies: Communications, smart phones,
12:25 p.m.
Seated Luncheon
1:40 p.m.
The Lay of the Lab: Exploring the State of the Clinical Laboratory Testing Industry— A Keynote Address

SPEAKER David King, J.D., Chairman, CEO, LabCorp

  • Clinical outcomes at reduced cost
  • PM – field with success
  • challenges faced by PM
  • BRCA  gene at Breast Cancer patient – drug approved by FDA for this cases only
  • Genetic conseling assist physicians
  • What is diagnostics: NOT ONLY a test,
  • NGS is part of diagnostics strategy – enormous potential vs biopsy
  • Genetic testing improve outcomes
  • Insurance covers BRCA I AND BRCAII – ONLY
  • COVERAGE OF GENETIC TESTING : RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED TRIALS, published in peer reviewed literature and the test will prolong life – Test do not prolong life, therefore, the test does not improve outcomes – drugs do !!!
  • PM individualized treatment for a specific disease
  • drug improve outcomes
  • Validity od data is fundamental, credibility of testing
  • Right drug to right patient
  • Migraine drug to be used
  • Non respondent – further researched
  • MDs understanding, confidence of results
  • PM Promise: close education GAP,
  • convene on VALUE for individual cases not populations
  • assess value among initiatives
  • PM – beyond Oncology
  • Regulation of diagnostics
2:25 p.m.
The Diagnostics Discussion: Evaluating the Extent to Which the Regulatory and Reimbursement Environment for Diagnostic Tests May Help or Hinder Personalized Medicine

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have been working for over a decade to develop regulatory and reimbursement pathways that promote the development of innovative diagnostic tests. Many observers, however, believe the current regulatory and reimbursement landscape still limits the field. This panel of business leaders will discuss the extent to which the existing frameworks and proposed policies may help or hinder personalized medicine.

MODERATOR Joseph V. Ferrara, CEO, Boston Healthcare Associates

  • Regulatory action for reimbursement of test
  • new categories of tests: new payment if Innovation, PLA codes, 45 months approval, CPT codes

3. Michael Doherty, Senior Vice President, Head of Product Development, Head of Research & Development, Foundation Medicine – ex Genentech/Roche

  • Operate in regulated environment, how to establish a company for long term
  • companion diagnostics
  • payment collection is the burden of the company
  • challenge for future products, investment process changes

Julie Khani, President, American Clinical Laboratory Association

  • FDA will establish a center for Diagnostics, proposal for pre-certification like in Medical devices
  • congress is involved in the decision making
  • Labs are prohibited from providing the data

2. Kimberly Popovits, Chairman of the Board, CEO, President, Genomic Health – Oncology, Breast cancer molecular diagnostics

  • Genomic testing saved the Health care System billions of dollars
  • Genomic testing will not be placebo, 12 years study controlled arms
  • proprietary test vs. test offered by all labs — different markets
  • Utility agreed upon like “MedicalDevicesInnovation.org”
  • demonstrate a pathway of product development that was already followed

4. Mark P. Stevenson, Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, Thermo Fisher Scientific

3:25 p.m.
Networking Break

Light refreshments provided.

Sponsored By

3:55 p.m.
Examining Policies: Exploring How Emerging U.S. Regulatory Approaches May Help Facilitate Personalized Care Regimens

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) remains firmly committed to regulatory strategies designed to advance personalized medicine. During this wide-ranging fireside chat, two senior leaders from government and industry will discuss the agency’s latest actions impacting the oversight of personalized medicine products and services. The discussion will cover topics including but not limited to next-generation sequencing, diagnostic test regulation, digital health, and real-world evidence.

MODERATOR Cynthia A. Bens, Senior Vice President, Public Policy, Personalized Medicine Coalition

Jess Berlin, Sc.D., Vice President and Global Head of epidemiology, J&J

  • Proposal for protocol, comments from FDA several cycles – makes science better
  • data source caused variability in results – challenge, primarily if one data source
  • City patient involvement – Patient preference study
  • Patient advocacy teach approach – ProjectLead teaching advocacy methods
  • Devices: ecosystem test feasibility NIST,
    • breath and depth of data vs completeness (change in employer, data disappears)
    • consent patient to access EMR  – Patient access to own data

 Lauren Silvis, J.D., Chief of Staff, Immediate Office of the Commissioner, FDA

  • FDA listen to stack holders in the diagnostics from the medical community for regulation development
  • Pre-market review for test review
  • Pre-certification
  • Product reviews in 2019
  • Digital Health – FDA develops
  • Diagnostics – development with the industry participants
4:55 p.m.
Engaging Everyone: Leveraging Diversity and Facilitating Equitable Access to Personalized Care

Advancing a medical paradigm that focuses on the unique characteristics of each patient will require, by definition, that patients from diverse backgrounds participate in the medical studies that advance our understanding of disease. Also critical is the need to ensure that those patients have access to personalized care informed by those studies. During this session, four panelists will discuss the effort to ensure that all patient populations benefit equally from personalized medicine.

MODERATOR Donna R. Cryer, J.D., President, CEO, Global Liver Institute

  • diversity of the Genome initiative for inclusion and generalizability

Vence L. Bonham, Jr., J.D., Senior Advisor, Director on Genomics and Health Disparities, U.S. National Human Genome Research Institute

  • Genomics data is of European dissents no diversity
  • minority populations not represented
  • sland populations not represented
  • hispanics not represented proportionally to their share in the population

Alex J. Carlisle, Ph.D., Chairman, CEO, National Alliance Against Disparities in Patient Health

  • PM with focus on disparities, racial biologic, socio ecological
  • Patient centered – raise health education
  • Translation for interpretation Physicians and Patients
  • Cancer as a disorde,

Adolph P. Falcón, Executive Vice President, National Alliance for Hispanic Health

  • community based organization 50 million
  • improving healthcare access
  • improve inclusion in science, no advancement in 45 years
  • Hard to reach through – academic language of research protocols is not understood by patients
  • common language, inclusion, diffusion to the field of the models that were developed to work
  • PROTOCOL TO BE IN ENGLISH AND IN SPANISH
  • OPERATES IN 24 CITIES
  • Funding needed to find which clinical trials support inclusion “data not available”
  • Community work must be married with Health initiatives

Edward Tepporn, Executive Vice President, Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum

  • since 1985 minorities education
  • all surveys conducted in English, Asian American
  • access to affordable health care
  • services to accommodate services for communities of Asian American
  • encourage NIH to conduct studies on Asian American
5:55 p.m.
Closing Remarks

SPEAKER | Amy Abernethy, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer, Chief Scientific Officer, Senior Vice President, Oncology, Flatiron Health

  • Science is better than ever
  • Technologies: AI, Countries with platforms
  • Regulatory framework, reproducibility of results
  • Taking care of people, standardization of data analysis
  • Inclusion, populations that historically were excluded
6:10 p.m.
Departure for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
6:30 p.m.
Welcome Reception at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Avenue of the Arts
465 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115

Sponsored by

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

Reporter: Stephen J. Williams, PhD

 

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

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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/

 

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

Reporter: Stephen J. Williams, PhD

3.3.4

3.3.4   Live Coverage: MedCity Converge 2018 Philadelphia: AI in Cancer and Keynote Address, Volume 2 (Volume Two: Latest in Genomics Methodologies for Therapeutics: Gene Editing, NGS and BioInformatics, Simulations and the Genome Ontology), Part 2: CRISPR for Gene Editing and DNA Repair

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

Stephen J. Williams: Reporter

3.3.3

3.3.3   Medcity Converge 2018 Philadelphia: Live Coverage @pharma_BI, Volume 2 (Volume Two: Latest in Genomics Methodologies for Therapeutics: Gene Editing, NGS and BioInformatics, Simulations and the Genome Ontology), Part 2: CRISPR for Gene Editing and DNA Repair

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/

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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?

 

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  • More than 77 percent of patients in the REMfresh® Patient Reported Outcomes DURation (REMDUR) study reported achieving 6 or more hours of sleep after taking REMfresh®, the first continuous release and absorption melatonin (CRA-melatonin)
  • More than 91 percent experienced improvements in sleep onset, sleep maintenance and total sleep quality, after taking REMfresh® (CRA-melatonin)
  • Post-marketing, patient-reported outcomes data reinforces clinical trial evidence demonstrating the potential of non-prescription REMfresh®, as a new, non-prescription, drug-free hypnotic (sleep) product designed to achieve 7-hour sleep
  • New data confirms previously presented SLEEP 2017 study showing the patented Ion Powered Pump (IPP) technology in REMfresh® helps extend melatonin-targeted sleep maintenance levels in the body from 3.7 hours (with marketed immediate-release melatonin) to 6.7 hours, while mimicking the pattern of the body’s natural melatonin blood levels during the nightly sleep cycle

Real Time Coverage at SLEEP 2018 meeting, Baltimore.

Reporters: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN, and Gail S. Thornton, MA

BALTIMORE – (June 6, 2018) – A patient-reported outcomes study presented at SLEEP 2018 provides confirmatory real-world evidence of the previously peer-reviewed and presented data showing the 7-hour action of REMfresh®, a new product for sleep. REMfresh® Ion-Powered Melatoninis the first and only, continuous release and absorption melatonin (CRA-melatonin) to mimic the body’s own 7-hour Mesa Wave, the natural pattern of melatonin blood levels during a normal night’s sleep cycle. This induces sleep onset and provides lasting and restorative sleep for up to 7 hours.

This new data shows a correlative relationship between a 7-hour Mesa Wave pharmacokinetic (PK) profile and real-world evidence of improvements in sleep duration, onset, maintenance and sleep quality after taking REMfresh® (CRA-melatonin).

The post-marketing REMfresh® Patient Reported Outcomes DURation (REMDUR) study was presented at SLEEP 2018, the 32nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS), LLC, a joint partnership of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and the Sleep Research Society (SRS).

 

Brodner and Seiden

Pictured here is David C. Brodner, M.D., and David J. Seiden, M.D., FAASM, after presenting the latest study data which found REMfresh is the first and only continuous release and absorption melatonin™ to mimic the body’s own 7-hour Mesa Wave™.

 

In a sample of 500 patients on REMfresh® (CRA-melatonin) responding to an online survey, 77.6 percent achieved 6 or more hours of sleep compared to 23.6 percent who slept that duration prior to taking REMfresh® (p<.0001). A vast majority of respondents also reported a major or moderate improvement in sleep onset (91.6 percent, p<.0001), sleep maintenance (94.8 percent, p<.0001) and total sleep quality (97.2 percent, p<.0001). More than three-quarters (76.6 percent) of patients indicated they take REMfresh® (CRA-melatonin) nightly. The proportion of patients reporting nightly CRA-melatonin use was significantly greater than the proportion of patients with less than nightly use (p<.0001). Most importantly, over 98 percent of patients reported they were very likely or likely to continue taking REMfresh® (CRA-melatonin) to treat their sleep complaints.

“The real-world evidence reported today in REMDUR provides further confirmation that REMfresh® represents a significant advance in the use of melatonin as a baseline therapy for treating sleep complaints,” said David C. Brodner, M.D., a leading sleep specialist who is Double Board-Certified in Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery and Sleep Medicine, founder and principle Physician at the Center for Sinus, Allergy, and Sleep Wellness, in Palm Beach County, Florida, and Senior Medical Advisor for Physician’s Seal, LLC®.

“REMfresh® Ion-Powered Melatoninhas been shown to be an effective drug-free solution that is now available to the millions of Americans in need of a good night’s sleep, many of whom seek new therapies that will induce sleep and keep them asleep until the morning, without causing residual effects they’ll feel the next day. With its unique delivery system that imitates the body’s own natural sleep pattern, REMfresh® has revolutionized the role of melatonin, when delivered in the CRA form. It is no longer just a treatment for jet lag, but the CRA-melatonin found in REMfresh® has been shown to provide substantial relief to individuals having nightly sleep challenges,” said Dr. Brodner.

The scientifically advanced, patented delivery system in REMfresh® (CRA-melatonin), called Ion Powered Pump (IPP™) technology, replicates the way in which the body naturally releases and absorbs melatonin, unlike conventional melatonin sleep products. Since REMfresh® is not a drug, there is no drug hangover.

Nearly one-third of U.S. adults sleep less than the recommended seven hours daily.[1],[2] Increasing evidence suggests an association between sub-optimal sleep duration and adverse health outcomes including a higher risk of diabetes, hypertension, heart attack, stroke, obesity and depression.[3] A pooled analysis of 16 studies and over one million patients found short sleep duration corresponded with greater risk of morbidity and mortality.[4]

 REMDUR Study Design

The post-marketing REMfresh® Patient Reported Outcomes DURation (REMDUR) study was designed to obtain real-world evidence about patients’ sleep patterns, duration of sleep before and after REMfresh® (CRA-melatonin), daily REMfresh® (CRA-melatonin) use, onset of action, sleep maintenance, quality of sleep, and overall satisfaction with REMfresh® (CRA-melatonin).

Patients with sleep disturbances in the general population who received a sample of CRA-melatonin (REMfresh®) from their physicians were invited to complete a 12-question survey. Survey responses were received from 500 patients.

Confirmation of the REMAKT Clinical Study

REMDUR confirmed clinical trial findings from REMAKT (REM Absorption Kinetics Trial), a U.S.-based randomized, crossover pharmacokinetic (PK) evaluation study in healthy, non-smoking adults that compared REMfresh® (CRA-melatonin) with a market-leading, immediate-release melatonin (IR-melatonin).[5]

The study results, peer-reviewed and presented last year at SLEEP 2017, showed that melatonin levels with REMfresh® (CRA-melatonin) exceeded the targeted sleep maintenance threshold for a median of 6.7 hours, compared with 3.7 hours with the leading IR-melatonin. Conversely, the levels of the market-leading IR-melatonin formulation dramatically increased 23 times greater than the targeted levels of exogenous melatonin for sleep maintenance and had a rapid decline in serum levels that did not allow melatonin levels to be maintained beyond 4 hours.

The REMfresh® (CRA-melatonin) studies build upon the body of evidence from prolonged-release melatonin (PR-M), marketed in Europe, which demonstrated in well-conducted, placebo-controlled studies, statistically significant improvement in sleep quality, morning alertness, sleep latency and quality of life in patients aged 55 years and older compared with placebo. REMfresh® (CRA-melatonin) was designed to overcome the challenges of absorption in the intestines, thereby extending the continual and gradual release pattern of melatonin through the night (known as the Mesa Wave, a flat-topped hill with steep sides). There was a fast time to Cmax, which is anticipated to result in improved sleep onset, while the extended median plateau time to 6.7 hours and rapid fall-off in plasma levels at the end of the Mesa Wave, may help to improve sleep maintenance and morning alertness.

Conventional melatonin products have had challenges at mimicking the profile of a Mesa Wave™. The scientific work behind REMfresh® (CRA-melatonin) sought to overcome these challenges by having the melatonin formulation in a matrix that maintains a patented, solubility-enhancing pH environment to help with the transport to the brush border of the gut and its subsequent absorption.

Designed as a hydrogel matrix tablet, REMfresh® (CRA-melatonin) provides rapid release of the melatonin from the surface of the tablet, as the hydrogel release-controlling matrix is setting up in the acidic environment (pH of 1 to 3.5) in the stomach. As the tablet moves into the higher pH (5.5 to 6.5) environment of the small-intestine, which is above the pKa of melatonin (~4.0), the acidic moiety in the tablet is designed to maintain the pH within the tablet below 4.0 for 7+ hours. The hydrogel matrix, after proper hydration, allows continuous release of the active melatonin and acidic moiety into the lumen of the intestines.

Melatonin: The Body’s Natural Sleep Ingredient

Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland in the brain and is the body’s natural sleep ingredient. Melatonin levels normally begin to rise in the mid-to late evening and remain high for the majority of the night. Levels begin to decline towards early morning, as the body’s wake cycle is triggered. As people age, melatonin levels can drop by as much as 70 percent[6] and their bodies may no longer produce enough melatonin to ensure adequate sleep.

Other available products, such as immediate-release melatonin, help initiate the onset of sleep but are usually unable to sustain prolonged sleep maintenance due to an immediate burst of melatonin, which is quickly degraded due to its relatively short half-life (60 minutes). Absorption in the lower digestive tract is limited by melatonin’s limited ability to be absorbed in a low acidity or neutral pH environment.

Importance of Sleep

Sleep is an essential part of every person’s life. The body requires a certain amount of sleep in order to properly rest, repair and renew itself. Sleep is customarily divided in four different stages, with each stage having a different effect. These four stages are:

N1, N2, deep sleep and REM sleep. The body moves among these four stages several times while asleep. If sleep is disrupted for any reason, a person’s body may not have a chance to properly restore itself, especially if it is struggling to get to the later stages, called deep sleep and REM sleep. Studies have shown that sound and sufficient sleep is important for learning, memory and a healthy immune system. A regular pattern of deep sleep and REM sleep will help a person begin the next day feeling refreshed and ready to go.

About Non-Prescription REMfresh®

REMfresh® (CRA-melatonin) is the first and only, continuous release and absorption formulation of UltraMel® melatonin (available as 2 mg and 5 mg and with a 0.5 mg anticipated in the second half of 2018). UltraMel® melatonin is a high-quality, 99 percent ultra-pure melatonin sourced from Western Europe exclusively for Physician’s Seal®.

REMfresh® (CRA-melatonin) is a dietary supplement and is regulated under the Federal Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, which does not require pre-approval. Melatonin has been in common use for over two decades and has a well-established profile of safe use by millions of people around the world. As with all supplements, individual results may vary.

REMfresh® (CRA-melatonin) is non-habit forming and does not contain narcotics, hypnotics, barbiturates, sedatives, antihistamines, alcohol or other harsh or additive chemicals. The usual adult recommended dose is 1-2 tablets 30-60 minutes before bedtime. Follow specific dosing instructions found on the back of the box for proper use of supplements.

REMfresh® (CRA-melatonin) is available at Walmart, Rite Aid and CVS/pharmacy. In 2017 REMfresh® was ranked as  the #1 recommended brand for sleep management by sleep doctors[7].

About Physician’s Seal®

Physician’s Seal® is the innovator of REMfresh®, the first and only continuous release and absorption, 99 percent ultra-pure melatonin (CRA-melatonin) that mimics the way the body naturally releases and maintains melatonin over a 7-hour period. Physician’s Seal®, founded in 2015, is a privately held company based in Boca Raton, Florida. It is committed to bringing cutting-edge life science applications to doctors and their patients. For more information, visit www.remfresh.com and connect with us on Facebook and You Tube.

Its sister subsidiary, IM HealthScience® (IMH) is the innovator of IBgard® and FDgard® for the dietary management of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Functional Dyspepsia (FD), respectively. In 2017, IMH added Fiber Choice®, a line of prebiotic fibers, to its product line via an acquisition. IMH® is a privately held company based in Boca Raton, Florida. It was founded in 2010 by a team of highly experienced pharmaceutical research and development and management executives. The company is dedicated to developing products to address overall health and wellness, including conditions with a high unmet medical need, such as digestive health. The IM HealthScience® advantage comes from developing products based on its patented, targeted-delivery technologies called Site Specific Targeting® (SST®). For more information, visit www.imhealthscience.com to learn about the company, or www.IBgard.com,  www.FDgard.com,and www.FiberChoice.com.

This information is for educational purposes only and is not meant to be a substitute for the advice of a physician or other health care professional. You should not use this information for diagnosing a health problem or disease. The company will strive to keep information current and consistent but may not be able to do so at any specific time. Generally, the most current information can be found on www.remfresh.com. Individual results may vary.

Data Presented at SLEEP 2018 Poster Session on Sleep Maintenance/Sleep Quality

Tuesday, June 5, 2018, 5-7pm

  • (Abstract 0419, Poster Board #104) Improvement in Sleep Maintenance and Sleep Quality with Ion Powered Pump Continuous Release and Absorption Melatonin: Results from a Self-Reported Patient Outcomes Study
    • David J. Seiden, M.D., FAASM, David C. Brodner, M.D., Syed M. Shah, Ph.D.

Visit Physician’s Seal® at booth 220 to learn more about REMfresh®.

The abstract is published in an online supplement of the journal, Sleep, which is available at http://www.sleepmeeting.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/abstractbook2018.pdf?sfvrsn=2

[1] Ford, E.S., Cunningham, T.J., & Croft, J.B. (2015, May 1). Trends in Self-Reported Sleep Duration among US Adults from 1985 to 2012. Sleep, 38(5):829-832. doi: 10.5665/sleep.4684.

[2] Watson, N.F., Badr, M.S., Belenky, G., Bliwise, D.L., Buxton, G.M., Buysse, D.,…Tasali, E. (2015). Joint Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society on the Recommended Amount of Sleep for a Healthy Adult: Methodology and Discussion. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 11(8):931-952. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.158.11.1856.

[3] Colten, H.R., & Altevogt, B.M. (Eds). (2006). Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem.  Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Sleep Medicine and Research. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US). doi: https://doi.org/10.17226/11617.

[4] Cappuccio, F.P., D’Elia, L., Strazzullo, P.,&  Miller, M.A. (2010). Sleep duration and all-cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. Sleep, 33(5):585-592

[5] For this clinical trial, the head-to-head comparison was with the 5 mg form; a 2 mg form of the comparator was not available.

[6] Zisapel, N. (2010). Melatonin and sleep. The Open Neuroendocrinology Journal, 3: 85-95.

[7] Among primary care physicians with a certification in sleep disorders who recommended a brand of modified-release melatonin. Quintiles IMS ProVoice July-September 2017 survey.

REFERENCE/SOURCE

Physician’s Seal® and REMfresh® (www.remfresh.com)

Dr. David C. Brodner, Center for Sinus, Allergy, and Sleep Wellness (http://www.brodnermd.com/sleep-hygiene.html)

Other related articles published in this Open Access Online Scientific Journal include the following:

2017

Ultra-Pure Melatonin Product Helps Maintain Sleep for Up to 7 Hours

Ultra-Pure Melatonin Product Helps Maintain Sleep for Up to 7 Hours

2016

Sleep Science

Genetic link to sleep and mood disorders

https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2016/02/27/genetic-link-to-sleep-and-mood-disorders/

2015

Sleep quality, amyloid and cognitive decline

https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2015/10/31/sleep-quality-amyloid-and-cognitive-decline/

2013

Day and Night Variation in Melatonin Level affects Plasma Membrane Redox System in Red Blood Cells

https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2013/02/23/httpwww-ncbi-nlm-nih-govpubmed22561555/

 

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